A classroom examination of the featured historical article announcing North Carolina's ratification of the Constitution can springboard into a lesson on federalism, the Bill of Rights, and the ratification process.

After a 72-year struggle, the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted American women the right to vote in 1920. Coupled with the Fifteenth Amendment, which extended voting rights to African American men, the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment transformed the power and potency of the American electorate. This article invites the…

This 2020 issue of "Social Education," marking the centennial anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment, seeks to broaden understanding of the suffrage story in several ways: by considering the strategies and tactics used by the suffragists to foment their agitation; by acknowledging the ways in which further work was needed to secure…

At the turn of the 20th century, Pink Teas (alternately known as "suffrage teas") were held by women who championed women's right to vote. In this article, the author provides historical background on Pink Teas and ideas of how to teach about them in the elementary classroom.

In this essay Bryan Warnick explores how rights to religious expression should be understood for students in public schools. Warnick frames student religious rights as a debate between the conflicting values associated with the Free Exercise Clause and the values associated with the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution. He then…

In planning a freshman undergraduate curriculum with colleagues recently, the question arose as to what type of understanding educators wanted to impart to their students about the Constitution. The alleged defects of the Constitution that these books point to are wide-ranging and can be classified into various categories. Some problems--such as…

America's colleges and universities are supposed to be strongholds of classically liberal ideals, including the protection of individual rights and openness to debate and inquiry. Too often, this is not the case. Across the country, universities deny students and faculty their fundamental rights to freedom of speech and expression. The report…

Designed to help prepare the nation for a thoughtful observance of the Constitutional bicentennial, this publication contains seven essays on the topic of democracy and the Constitution. "Democracy and the Constitution" (Gordon S. Wood) looks at the popular and democratic rhetoric used to justify the federalist system in the late 1700's.…

The Constitution is a living document whose meaning was not fixed forever at the Philadelphia Convention. Focuses on the slavery compromise and the Fourteenth Amendment to demonstrate defects of the document and its promising evolution through 200 years of American history. (PS)

Offers a midterm report on United States Supreme Court Cases. The cases dealt with voting rights, affirmative action, jury bias, the handicapped status of AIDS victims, religious holidays for teachers, and political spending of nonprofit corporations. (JDH)

Explores the founding of the United States in terms of its theoretical and political perspectives. Identifies and discusses leading characteristics of thought that focus on the framing and ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Examines the meaning of "liberty under law." (LS)

Diversity in American constitutional law refers to differences among the laws of the states. However, key phrases in the Constitution have been used to ensure individual rights. The expansion of those rights has led to conflict between community needs and those of the individual, with each side referring to the Constitution for support. (PS)

Explains that the right to education is not mentioned in the Constitution of the United States as a fundamental right, discussing whether the United States needs a right to education. Examines how such a right could be established through either modification of the Constitution or by becoming a right by social discernment. (SM)

Third in a series designed to help prepare the nation for a thoughtful observance of the Constitutional bicentennial, this publication presents six essays addressing the issue of human rights and the Constitution. "How the Constitution Protects Our Rights: A Look at the Seminal Years" (Robert A. Rutland) focuses on James Madison's role…

Discusses the dilemma faced by constitutionalism today: limited, constitutional government requires that people and society be independent and distrustful of the state, but if the people are too independent and capable of ruling, they may wish to extend their powers and attempt to rule over others. (PS)