This article includes information about the Age of Enlightenment, how it influenced the founding Fathers of the US Constitution, and brief information about key figures in the Enlightenment and their contributions.

In this lesson, students will describe which segments of society were included in the original Athenian democracy. They will compare and contrast early Greek democracy to democracy as it is exercised in the United States today. Students will participate in the democratic process through a role play activity.

This lesson investigates where and why the English colonists settled in America. The lesson also looks at leaders who had an impact on the development of the colonies and their reasons for founding the colonies.

Students can learn about the changes which were made to the North Carolina Constitution in 1835.

Students can review the original Constitution of North Carolina which was created prior to the American Revolutionary War.

This is the constitution of the Iroquois Confederacy, the first written constitution of the new world.

Students can read transcripts from the debate about the raitification of the United States Constitution by people in North Carolina.

Students learn about the governing systems that developed in the colonies. Systems of government are compared, particularly those that are representative of the people and those that ruled without the consent of the people, including the monarchy.

The Ancient Greeks may be most famous for their ideas and philosophies on government and politics. It was in Greece, and particularly Athens, that democracy was first conceived and used as a primary form of government.

In the previous unit, students learned about European exploration and colonization in the Western Hemisphere. Students were introduced to the English colonial regions (New England, Middle and Southern colonies) and reasons for coming to the New World. This lesson investigates where and why the English colonists settled in America. The lesson also looks at leaders who had an impact on the development of the colonies and their reasons for founding the colonies.

In this lesson, students learn about the governing systems that developed in the colonies. Systems of government are compared, particularly those that are representative of the people and those that rule/d without the consent of the people, including the monarchy.

In this lesson, explore the political, economic, and social factors that influenced the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the importance of this document. They look at the events of the American Revolution, and look forward to elements that should be included in the new government in order to assure that the grievances in the Declaration of Independence are addressed.

This article provides a sound introduction to Ancient Rome: For 500 years Ancient Rome was governed by the Roman Republic. This was a form of government that allowed for people to elect officials. It was a complex government with a constitution, detailed laws, and elected officials such as senators. Many of the ideas and structures of this government became the basis for modern democracies.

This video explains how the ideas of various governments influenced the development of the United States government. Teachers should view the video prior to showing it to students and determine if the violent scene invovling Julius Caesar (on the video around 3:19) is appropriate for their class.

This video explains how the ideas of various governments influenced the development of the United States government.

In this resource, students can learn about Constitutional history through short videos, mini-activities, and practice questions in this segment of Preparing for the Oath: U.S. History and Civics for Citizenship. The six questions included in this segment cover topics such as the Constitutional Convention, the Bill of Rights, and amendments to the Constitution. This site was designed with the needs of recent immigrants in mind. It is written at a “low-intermediate” ESL level.

This Teacher Guide identifies the Civics Test questions covered in the theme, Writing the Constitution. It also provides the instructional steps to familiarize teachers with the elements and navigation of the Preparing for the Oath - Writing the Constitution student interactive so that they can be comfortable presenting it to their class.

This short encyclopedia article describes the Roman Republic and has many relevant and interesting images for students to investigate.

Students explore the political, economic, and social factors that influenced the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the importance of this document. They look at the events of the American Revolution, and look forward to elements that should be included in the new government in order to assure that the grievances in the Declaration of Independence are addressed.

During a study of the US Constitution and after students have already read the Constitution, students explore the philosophical underpinnings of it and decide which of the different influences on it ultimately had the biggest impact on the Founding Fathers’ thinking. This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.