Video Slavery and the Constitution Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Historian James Oliver Horton briefly examines the protections for slavery embedded in the US Constitution.
Video Jefferson and the Constitution Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Thomas Jefferson Foundation Professor of History at the University of Virginia, Peter S. Onuf has written extensively on sectionalism, federalism, and political economy, with a particular emphasis on the political thought of Thomas...
History Now Essay Ordinary Americans and the Constitution Gary B. Nash Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ The Constitution is so honored today, at home and abroad, that it may seem irreverent to suggest that for a great many ordinary Americans, it was not what they wished as a capstone of their revolutionary experience. This is not to say... Appears in: 13 | The Constitution Fall 2007
Video: Inside The Vault Inside the Vault: Constitution Day! Government and Civics 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Originally broadcast on September 17, 2020, this session of Inside the Vault: Highlights from the Gilder Lehrman Collection celebrated Constitution Day with rare materials from the Gilder Lehrman Collection: The US Constitution!...
History Now Essay Andrew Jackson and the Constitution Matthew Warshauer Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ In 1860, biographer James Parton concluded that Andrew Jackson was "a most law-defying, law obeying citizen." Such a statement is obviously contradictory. Yet it accurately captures the essence of the famous, or infamous, Jackson.... Appears in: 22 | Andrew Jackson and His World Winter 2009
History Now Essay George Washington and the Constitution Theodore J. Crackel Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ George Washington was among the first of America’s statesmen to recognize the flaws in the government under the Continental Congress and the Articles of Confederation. His experience in the Revolutionary War had convinced him that... Appears in: 13 | The Constitution Fall 2007
History Now Essay James Madison and the Constitution Jack Rakove Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ James Madison had just turned twenty-five when he took up his first public office as a delegate to the Virginia provincial convention that endorsed American independence and then adopted a new constitution and an accompanying... Appears in: 13 | The Constitution Fall 2007
Classroom Resources Historical Context: The Constitution and Slavery Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ On the 200th anniversary of the ratification of the US Constitution, Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to sit on the Supreme Court, said that the Constitution was "defective from the start." He pointed out that the framers...
Special Topics “What the Constitution Means to Me” The Gilder Lehrman Institute has collaborated with the producers of the exciting new Broadway play What the Constitution Means to Me by playwright and two-time Obie Award–winning actor Heidi Schreck, showing at the Helen Hayes Theater...
Classroom Resources Historical Context: The Survival of the US Constitution Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ The United States has the oldest written national framework of government in the world. At the end of the twentieth century, there were about 159 other national constitutions in the world, and 101 had been adopted since 1970. While...