Curated OER
Debate over the Ratification of the Constitution
Twelfth graders discuss the creation of the United States, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. Through a class debate, role-playing Federalists and Anti-federalists, they identify the reasons for and against ratification...
Curated OER
Ratifying the Constitution
After a lecture on ratifying the Constitution, this learning exercise would be perfect to reinforce your government (or U.S. History) students' new knowledge. The activity contains ten knowledge-level and comprehension-level questions....
PBS
Pbs Liberty!: Congress Adds a Bill of Rights
Informative site recounting the events of December 15, 1791, when the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution. Learn about the Bill of Rights and the freedoms it was designed to protect!
OpenStax
Open Stax: The Constitutional Convention and Federal Constitution
After reading this section of the chapter on "Creating Republican Governments", students will be able to identify the central issues of the 1787 Constitutional Convention and their solutions and also describe the conflicts over the...
Varsity Tutors
Varsity Tutors: Archiving Early America: Jack Rakove and Original Meanings
This interview with Pulitzer Prize Winner Jack Rakove about his book Original Meanings is very informative. He discusses the ideology of the framers of the US Constitution and the debate between Federalists and Anti-Federalists.
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...
Teaching American History
Teaching American History: The Antifederalists
Find out who the Antifederalists were and what their mission was. What were the three categories the Antifederalists were sorted into?
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...
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.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Ratification and Bill of Rights
This site is provided for by the University of Groningen. Learn about the struggle for approval by the states of the U.S. Constitution, continuous disagreements after the Constitutional Convention between the Federalists and the...
University of Groningen
American History: Biographies: George Mason 1725 1792
This resource presents links for different parts of George Mason's life. Information about his life includes links to relevant topics.
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...
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.
Other
Gunston Hall Plantation: Mason Objects
In this set of activities, students learn what George Mason's objections were to the U.S. Constitution. They then evaluate them through a class discussion and divide into groups to hold a debate about the disagreement between the...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Bill of Rights
The Constitution spelled out the powers of the national government, but many Anti-federalists felt there should be equally explicit a guarantee of individual rights. Read about the compiliation of what became known as the Bill of Rights...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Antifederalists
The Anti-federalists, those who opposed the ratification of the Constitution, were a diverse group. They did have specific fears about carrying out the precepts of the Constitution. Read about their fears, especially the main one, no...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: The Election of 1800
This Khan Academy resource provides and overview of the issues surrounding the Election of 1800.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Constitution or Articles?
In this lesson, students will observe the political climate at the time of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and read the writings of the delegates who refused to sign the proposed Constitution, as well as those who supported it....