Curated OER
On The Senate Floor
Students examine the process of how a bill becomes law. Pupils discuss reasons for debates and explore the use of filibusters. The class observes a video to discover procedures in the House and Senate. Students visit a filibuster...
This Nation
This nation.com: What Is a Filibuster?
This site answers the questions "What is a filibuster? Why are they permitted in the Senate but not the House? Can you do anything to stop one?" Good discussion of the term in the context of U.S. government.
US National Archives
Our Documents: Civil Rights Act (1964)
Find an image of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, signed by President Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964. Read a brief description of how this life-changing legislation came to be.
Other
Project Vote Smart: How a Bill Becomes a Law
Project Vote Smart provides a detailed guide to the process of making a bill become a law. Content also includes links for more explanation on certain topics.
OpenStax
Open Stax: Lewis and Clark
By reading this section of a chapter on "Westward Expansion," students will be able to explain the significance of the Louisiana Purchase and describe the terms of the Adams-Onis Treaty and the role played by the filibuster in American...
Library of Congress
Loc: congress.gov: The Legislative Process: Senate Floor
Watch this video on the unique rules and procedures governing floor debate and amending in the Senate. A transcript is provided, along with a chart of the legislative process. [4:18]
Other
National Council for the Social Studies: Cloture Motion to Cease Debate
Using the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 as an example, students will understand the congressional procedures of cloture and filibuster. An in-depth article on how a filibuster was used during debate on this bill, the actual signed cloture...
Other
National Council for the Social Studies: Selecting Supreme Court Justices
A panel discusses the questions of whether the Senate or President hold more power in selecting Supreme Court Justices, the impact of interest groups on the process, and whether changes need to be made to the confirmation process. Along...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Rise and Fall of Jim Crow: A National Struggle: Congress
This two-page segment of a larger PBS site about Jim Crow discusses the role of Congress over close to 100 years in first entrenching Jim Crow laws in the law of the land, and eventually, through the Civil Rights Act of 1965 and the...
Other
Project Vote Smart: How a Bill Becomes a Law
Project Vote Smart provides a detailed guide to the process of making a bill become a law. Content also includes links for more explanation on certain topics.
Northern Illinois University
Illinois Periodicals Online: Everett Dirksen and the 1964 Civil Rights Act
Read about the use of the filibuster in the U.S. Senate as a way to control legislation.In the discussion of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the longest filibuster in history was launched as a way to keep the legislation from coming to a...
US Senate
Historical Minutes: An Era of Investigations: 1921 1940
Read these series of essays written by U.S. Senate historians that detail important events and people during the era of investigations in the Senate just before the Great Depression and continuing up to the entrance to World War II. The...
CNN
Cnn: Gop Sets Up Showdown Over Alito
Some democrats in the Senate are discussing strategies for halting the confirmation of Samuel Alito for the U.S. Supreme Court. Read about the controversy and battle that is brewing in the Senate in this January, 2006, report. there is...
Other
Finding Dulcina: Strom Thurmond Ends Longest Filibuster in Senate History
Read about Senator Strom Thurmond's epic filibuster in an attempt to forestall the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. There is a brief biography of Thurmond and his political life, as well as information about the use of the...
Museum of the City of San Francisco
Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco: William Walker
This is an in-depth site from the Museum of San Francisco covering the adventures of William Walker, including his conquering of Nicaragua.
Digital History
Digital History: Southern Radicalism
A look at a little-studied action in American History when men, known as filibusters raised private armies to invade foreign countries. See what these filibusters had to do with the desire to spread slavery.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Government Glossary
[Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson Activotes are used to access student's prior knowledge of the principles of the US constitutional government. Student knows the essential principles stated in the US Constitution-...
BBC
Bbc News: Filibustering
Gives a brief explanation of the technique in the context of parliament procedure. Also provides an example of a time it happened in the British Parlament.
Curated OER
Photograph of William Walker Filibusterer
This is an in-depth site from the Museum of San Francisco covering the adventures of William Walker, including his conquering of Nicaragua.