This lesson traces Lincoln’s political life during a time of constitutional crisis. It examines Lincoln’s ideas and decisions regarding slavery and the use of presidential power to preserve the Federal Union during the Civil War. When students have completed this lesson, they should be able to analyze and evaluate President Lincoln’s decisions in response to the critical constitutional issues of his time.

With this digital collection, the student will explore conflicts over the exercise of State power at three important junctures in U.S. history: the Revolution and national founding, the Civil War, and World War II. At each of these formative moments in national history, some Americans challenged—while others defended—the authority of the federal government over individual citizens and states. It is important to note that, in these documents, anti-statism does not emerge as a coherent ideology. Rather it includes many different forms of opposition to centralized authority, from reasoned debate to organized rebellion to mob violence. What does emerge is a long and varied history of American anti-statist thought and sentiment.

This lesson is designed to educate students on the actual platforms of the major political parties. Students will discuss how political beliefs are formed and how party affiliation affects political behavior. The lesson incorporates brief writing assignments, online party affiliation quizzes, and Internet research of the 2016 state and national party platforms.

Learn about the checks and balances system of the three branches of the U.S. government.

In this lesson, students read primary and secondary source documents about the Supreme Court case Bush v. Gore and the 2000 presidential election. Students then answer analysis questions about the case. There is an extension activity at the lesson.

The Declaration of Independence is key to understanding American government. Written in June and July of 1776, by the Committee of Five (Thomas Jefferson of Virgina, John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Robert Sherman of Connecticut, and Robert R. Livingston of New York), the document was forged in a time of crisis. American colonists were engaged in a war on their own soil against their mother country, England , who possessed the most disciplined military in the world. This document was like none previously seen.

In this Teaching with the News lesson, students will explore, debate, and evaluate multiple perspectives on U.S. foreign policy regarding drones.

In this Teaching with the News lesson, students will analyze the issues that frame the current debate on U.S. policy towards Syria. They will consider the role of the U.S. public, the president, and Congress in the decision of whether to use military force. Students will work cooperatively within groups to integrate the arguments and beliefs of the options into a persuasive, coherent presentation. Finally, they will explore, debate, and evaluate multiple perspectives on U.S. policy towards Syria through a role-play activity.

Students will explore the question "What is an American" through both historical and modern lenses, discussing how the concept of American identity and the American Dream has evolved over time. Through a power point presentation, class discussion, reading historical and modern interpretations, and completing an art project, students will gain an understanding of the emergence of an American identity.

In this lesson, students will learn the major tenets of the Bayard v. Singleton case in North Carolina and how it established a precedent for the United States Supreme Court's decision in Marbury v. Madison. Students will learn about both cases through guided notes, film clips, and discussion. Students will then compare the cases to one another, illustrating their final understanding by creating a creative and educational rap or Haiku.

In this lesson, students will learn about the history and structure of the Electoral College. Students will view a video about the structure of the Electoral College, learn about North Carolina's importance in the 2016 presidential election, and participate in an Electoral College simulation. The lesson will culminate with students thinking critically about the merits and drawbacks of the Electoral College as members of the Congressional Committee to Study the Electoral College, where they decide whether to keep, modify, or abolish and replace the system.

Students examine the freedoms granted to the press by participating in a partner evaluation of the rights and limitations outlined for the media, as well as examine the constitutionality of the Sedition Act and other government decisions.

Narrated by Bowdoin College Government Professor Andrew Rudalevige, "Founding Principles" provides an introductory overview and basic understanding to American government, but one that is crucial to building citizen-leaders, promoting civic engagement, and working toward the common good.
Chapter Fifteen reviews the important aspects of the American system of government and encourages viewers to use their knowledge to get involved in their own political world.

Narrated by Bowdoin College Government Professor Andrew Rudalevige, "Founding Principles" provides an introductory overview and basic understanding to American government, but one that is crucial to building citizen-leaders, promoting civic engagement, and working toward the common good.
Chapter One discusses how the American Government was formed in the late 1700s, including the creation of the Constitution.

Narrated by Bowdoin College Government Professor Andrew Rudalevige, "Founding Principles" provides an introductory overview and basic understanding to American government, but one that is crucial to building citizen-leaders, promoting civic engagement, and working toward the common good.
Chapter Three discusses Congress and its power, and how it works and doesn't work for public interest.

Narrated by Bowdoin College Government Professor Andrew Rudalevige, "Founding Principles" provides an introductory overview and basic understanding to American government, but one that is crucial to building citizen-leaders, promoting civic engagement, and working toward the common good.
Chapter Two discusses the differences in national and state government systems and what levels of power exist therein.

In this lesson, students will learn about the US Constitution's guarantee of freedom of religion granted in the First Amendment. Focusing on Sikhism, students will explore the concepts of intolerance and prejudice as they relate to religion, learning the importance of education and open mindedness in combatting these issues. To culminate this lesson, students will work in groups to design and present an educational campaign focused on a particular religion and encouraging religious tolerance in general.

This two-day lesson centers around a project that is designed to help students demonstrate knowledge of the key concepts and issues that they learned in this unit of study. They will be comparing and contrasting laws passed in the United States and South Africa regarding segregation and apartheid, respectively.This lesson was developed by Carolin Bethea-Brown as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.            

In this two-day lesson, students will analyze the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as well as laws passed at the state and federal levels that were used to systematically deny African Americans of their constitutional rights. Throughout the lesson students will draw comparisons between laws made in the United States with laws made by the apartheid government of South Africa.This lesson was developed by Caroline Bethea-Brown as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.