It is often difficult for Americans to find the secrets for addressing issues relevant to the contemporary United States. However, in every generation, individual citizens in their communities, states, and national institutions have debated values that are central to the nation. By studying American history as a sequence of case studies, students can learn how past Americans have struggled with the problems of their day in the context of the value tensions that frame the enduring American debate. The use of case studies as a learning tool allows teachers and students to follow a map through an era of historical study--a significant event, idea, Congressional act, judicial decision, trend, phenomenon, or movement--that captures the essence of a case study. In this article, the authors highlight four events included in the Colonial Williamsburg History and Civics curriculum that demonstrate the organization and unfolding of case studies. (Contains 1 figure.)