Teaching American History
Teaching American History: The Federalist/antifederalist Debate Bill of Rights
Identify the role of the debates between the Federalists and Antifederalists during the creation of the ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Teaching American History
Teaching American History: The Politics of the Bill of Rights: Part Iii
Investigate what the politics were leading to the creation of the Bill of Rights. Identify how the debates in the first congress led to the stages of approval and ultimately the adoption of the ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Digital History
Digital History: The Bill of Rights
Find a list of the first ten amendments to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and see why these additions were made to the ruling document.
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.
This Nation
This nation.com: Electoral College
A textbook excerpt from ThisNation.com that includes a useful chart of electoral votes by state. Clickable links to pertinent articles and amendments of the Constitution are another plus.
Thomson Reuters
Find Law: u.s. Supreme Court: New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)
Provides a brief summary and the text of Chief Justice Brennan's opinion of the Supreme Court in this case involving libel.
Thomson Reuters
Find Law: u.s. Supreme Court: Grovey v. Townsend (1935)
Read all about this Supreme Court case involving Negro voting rights in 1935. Features text of the majority opinion of the court.
Oswego City School District
Regents Exam Prep Center: Introduction to u.s. Government
Explore the ideas and principles of American government including its influences, foundation, and basic tenets (such as checks and balances and federalism).
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: An Uneasy Peace
See what turmoil resulted from the acquisition of new territory after the Mexican-American War. There was great disagreement between those who wanted to abolish slavery and those who wanted to be able to carry slavery into the new lands....
University of Groningen
American History: Biographies: George Mason 1725 1792 Introduction
This site is provided for by the University of Groningen. Leader of the Anti-federalist faction against strong national government, Mason fought the ratification of the U.S. Constitution for protection for individual rights; read this...
US Government Publishing Office
U.s. Government Publishing Office: Eighth Amendment Further Guarantees in Criminal Cases [Pdf]
This resource provides the various court rulings as to what has been interpreted as "excessive bail", etc.
Thomson Reuters
Find Law: u.s. Supreme Court: Gannett Co. V. De Pasquale (1979)
Complete Supreme Court opinion for Gannett Co. V. DePasquale.
The Dirksen Congressional Center
Congress Link: Lesson Plans
The Dirksen Congressional Center provides abundant lesson plans on all aspects of the US Congress and the US Constitution. All lessons contain time frames, objectives, and links to material, and are built around Bloom's taxonomy.
Yale University
Avalon Project: The Bill of Rights
Yale's School of Law provides the text of the ten original amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights.
Cornell University
Cornell University: Law School: Equal Protection Overview
A brief overview of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Includes a link to the full text of the amendment. Discusses equal protection.
US National Archives
Nara: Charters of Freedom: The Bill of Rights
This site contains a complete transcription of The Bill of Rights, along with zoomable graphics of the original handwritten text. It also includes information about the historical context of the document, links to more constitutional...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: The First Amendment
This resource presents lessons on the First Amendment. It contains many resources for use with children, and links to primary source documents.
Digital History
Digital History: The Equal Rights Amendment
In 1972, Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution. The ERA subsequently failed to be ratified by the necessary number of states and was never added to the Constitution.
Ducksters
Ducksters: Us Government for Kids: Constitution Amendments
Kids learn about the amendments in the United States Constitution. Seventeen not included in the Bill of Rights of the twenty-seven total.
Other
Real Democracy: Proposed Article of Amendment Xxvii
Read a "proposed" Article of Amendment XXVII - Nonpartisan Direct Representative Democracy, Government Electorate, Voting and Education Networks. Read this example of a proposed amendment for the establishment of direct democracy and a...
Other
Justia: u.s. Supreme Court Center: Cases and Opinions: Search and Seizure
A comprehensive overview of the Fourth Amendment, on the legality of searches and seizures of persons or property, makes note of Supreme Court rulings on the subject of unreasonable searches and searches.
US National Archives
Our Documents: The Bill of Rights (1791)
An interactive experience with the Bill of Rights. The Our Documents group allows you to view a copy of the original Bill of Rights. There is a brief information section along with links to larger images, a typed transcript, and...
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Vital Protection for Individual Liberties
Explanation of the constitutional amendments and process of amending as intentionally organized to increase protection of the civil liberties of U.S. citizens.
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.