University of Virginia
Miller Center at Uva: u.s. Presidents: John Adams: A Life in Brief
A good look at John Adams as president and the struggles he had both domestically and in foreign affairs. Read about how he kept America out of war and his political isolation because of his hard-held beliefs.
University of Virginia
Miller Center at Uva: u.s. Presidents: James Monroe: Campaigns and Elections
An interesting look at the elections of 1816 and 1820 in which James Monroe ran essentially unopposed by the Federalists.
BBC
Bbc: A Timeline of the European Union
An interactive timeline starting in 1948 stretching to the present that examines the key events in the creation, growth, and development of the EU.
Stanford University
Sheg: Reading Like a Historian: Federalists & Anti Federalists
[Free Registration/Login Required] Young scholars solve a problem surrounding a historical question by reading primary source documents. This historical inquiry lesson allows students to read Federalist and Anti-Federalist positions from...
US National Archives
Nara: Charters of Freedom: Constitution of the United States
Comprehensive overview of the U.S. Constitution. Places the Constitution in context with two other founding charters of American democracy and government, the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Includes access to digital...
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: Age of Jefferson and Madison
[Free Registration/Login Required] After a brief description of Thomas Jefferson's and James Madison's contributions to the early ideology and government of the new United States in their authorship of the Declaration of Independence and...
University of Chicago
The Founders' Constitution
The University of Chicago provides thousands of primary source documents concerning the diverse contents of the Constitution. Documents underlying the proposed Constitution, as well as documents of the time debating the proposed...
iCivics
I Civics: The Federalist Debate
The ratification debate between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists gives us insight into the ideas behind both sides and a better understanding of how our government developed in its early years.
iCivics
I Civics: You've Got Rights!
Students learn about the rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and other important constitutional amendments.
Digital History
Digital History: The Debate Over Ratifying the Constitution [Pdf]
Read about why ratification of the United States' new constitution was such a struggle. Find arguments for and against ratification, and discover who supported the Federalist position and who the Anti-Federalist position. [PDF]
Digital History
Digital History: The Founding Fathers' Motives [Pdf]
Read some historians' views about the Founding Fathers and their interests, perhaps economic, in writing the Constitution. Historians' views have changed over time, and in the suggested student exercises, students are asked to assess...
Digital History
Digital History: Sedition Act and the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions [Pdf]
Read about the foreign policy problems the United States was having at the beginning of the Adams administration. See what led up the the passage of the Sedition Act and some ramifications of it, and the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions...
Digital History
Digital History: The Election of 1800 [Pdf]
Perhaps the most important election in United States history, the election of 1800 pitted John Adams against Thomas Jefferson. Read about their differences and the differences in the political parties that supported them. [pdf]
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: The First American Party System: Events, Issues, and Positions
For this Curriculum Unit, students will consider "The First American Party System: Events, Issues, and Positions" in 3 Lessons. The unit also includes worksheets and other student materials that can be found under the resource tab.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Hamilton vs. Jefferson
The conflict that took shape in the 1790s between the Federalists and the Antifederalists exercised a profound impact on American history. The Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, who had married into the wealthy Schuyler family,...
Digital History
Digital History: Ratifying the Constitution
After the Constitution was written, debated, and finally adopted by the Constitutional Convention, it was sent to the states to ratify. Read about the fears of those who did not want to ratify it and see how their fears were addressed.
Digital History
Digital History: James Thomson Callender, Scandalmonger
James Thomson Callender was a little-known journalist whose writings made a big splash in the new American nation. Read about his attacks on political figures, and see what the Sedition Act had to do with his conviction of a crime.
Digital History
Digital History: The Revolution of 1800
The election of 1800 was a revolution in a peaceful sense. Read about the election, how Thomas Jefferson became president, and the resulting 12th Amendment.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: The Creation of the Bill of Rights: "Retouching the Canvas"
In this lesson plan, students will consider "The Creation of the Bill of Rights: "Retouching the Canvas"." The plan includes worksheets and other student materials that can be found under the resource tab.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Balancing Power Between State and Federal Governments
In this lesson plan, students will consider "The Federalist Debates: Balancing Power Between State and Federal Governments." The plan includes worksheets and other student materials that can be found under the resource tab.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Explaining the Bill of Rights
Read about the need for a Bill of Rights to be added to the Constitution. Find out what each of the first ten amendments means.
Wikimedia
Wikipedia: United States Bill of Rights
This encyclopedia article from Wikipedia gives some background history to the creation of the Bill of Rights and contains a transcription of the first ten amendments to the Constitution in their original form.
Michigan State University
Michigan State University: American Revolution: The Argument Over the Constitution
The National Humanities Center provides a full-length essay on the constitutional debate during the time of the Constitutional Convention.
Wikimedia
Wikipedia: Quebec Referendum, 1980
An overview of the 1980 referendum on whether Quebec should separate from Canada.