University of Groningen
American History: Presidents: James Madison: Proposed Amendments to Constitution
Text of James Madison's "Proposed Amendments to the Constitution," June 8, 1789. Madison states his reasons for the amendments in view of the anti-federalist feelings in many of the colonies. The proposal explains in Madison's own words...
Ohio Test Prep
Ohio Test Prep: Bill of Rights
Ohio test preparation material on the Bill of Rights provides three video tutorials that hit specifically learning target 9 which is to cite evidence for historical precedents to the rights incorporated in the Bill of Rights.
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.
Henry J. Sage
Sage American History: The Virginia Bill of Rights
Primary source document establishing a basis and foundation of early American government. This document, adopted in Virginia and drafted by George Mason and Patrick Henry, precedes the Congressional call for independence.
ProCon.org
Pro Con: Should All Americans Have the Right (Be Entitled) to Health Care?
Website with comprehensive resources on the debate over the right to health care. Presents research, studies and arguments surrounding the topic.
Bill of Rights Institute
Bill of Rights Institute: John Adams
Short, overweight, and quick-tongued, John Adams hardly fits the model of the typical Founder. But Adams's contributions to American independence and the formation of the United States government were great. Adams penned defenses of...
Bill of Rights Institute
Bill of Rights Institute: James Madison
James Madison's slight stature and reserved personality gave little indication of his keen intellect and shrewd nature. No other Founder had as much influence in crafting, ratifying, and interpreting the United States Constitution and...
Bill of Rights Institute
Bill of Rights Institute: George Mason
George Mason's ideas helped to shape the Founding documents of the United States, but few Americans remember him today. The words he used when writing the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Virginia Constitution of 1776 inspired the...
Other
American Civil Liberties Union: Constitution Day Activities
Six activities teach students about the U.S. Constitution. Learn about checks and balances, the Bill of Rights, some of the history of the document, and how each of the states became a state. The site also provides teacher resources,...
PBS
Pbs Online/the American Revolution
Information packed game that takes you on a journey through the lead-up to the Revolutionary War, the Revolutionary War itself, and beyond to the Bill of Rights. Hyperlinks to other articles in this great site.
US National Archives
Our Documents: A National Initiative on American History, Civics, and Service
Our Documents is home to one hundred milestone documents that influenced that course of American history and American democracy. Includes full-page scans of each document, transcriptions, background information on their significance, and...
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Amazing Americans
Checklist of inventors, politicians, performers, activists, and ordinary people who made America. Meet Harry Houdini, Langston Hughes, Buffalo Bill Cody and dozens of other famous and interesting American adventurers, presidents,...
Other
Lesson Plans for Teaching the First Amendment
This FreedomForum.org site lists the three English documents that were precursors to the American Bill of Rights.
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Three Visions for African Americans
Learning Activity on the divergent views of African American leaders. Students review and compare the competing visions of Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey and W.E.B. Du Bois. In addition, students choose a contemporary African...
Bill of Rights Institute
Bill of Rights Institute: John Dickinson
John Dickinson was called "The Penman of the American Revolution." During the 1760s and 1770s, he authored numerous important essays in defense of American rights, including The Late Regulations Respecting the British Colonies, the...
Bill of Rights Institute
Bill of Rights Institute: Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine was a major figure during the early years of the American Revolution. One of the foremost propagandists for American liberty in the 1770s, Paine penned words that rallied the war-weary spirit of the colonists and that still...
Bill of Rights Institute
Bill of Rights Institute: James Otis
James Otis was called the most important American of the 1760s by John Adams. A trained lawyer and master of argument, James Otis was a leader of the Patriot movement in Boston in those years. Initially a prosecutor for the British...
Bill of Rights Institute
Bill of Rights Institute: George Washington
Americans have long appreciated George Washington's importance to our history. Washington secured American independence as commander of the Continental Army and established traditions as the nation's first president. His unblemished...
Bill of Rights Institute
Bill of Rights Institute: Benjamin Franklin
Although he was the old sage of the American Revolution and the Founding generation, Benjamin Franklin's considerable work in the areas of journalism, science, and invention often obscure his many contributions to the creation of the...
Bill of Rights Institute
Bill of Rights Institute: Robert Morris
Known as the "Financier of the Revolution," Robert Morris played a critical role in winning and securing American independence. As chairman of the Continental Congress's Finance Committee between 1775 and 1778, Morris traded flour and...
Bill of Rights Institute
Bill of Rights Institute: Charles Pinckney
Born near Charles Town (now Charleston), South Carolina, Charles Pinckney was the child of a wealthy family. He received a first-rate education and became an accomplished lawyer. Pinckney joined the state militia during the American...
Bill of Rights Institute
Bill of Rights Institute: Samuel Adams
Samuel Adams was born on September 22, 1722, in Quincy, Massachusetts. He entered Harvard College at the age of 14. During the 1760s, Adams became a leader of the Patriot resistance to the British government's attempt to tax the American...
Bill of Rights Institute
Bill of Rights Institute: Charles Carroll
Charles Carroll is primarily remembered today for his political leadership in Maryland during the Revolutionary era. A wealthy planter, Carroll became a major figure in the patriot movement in 1773 when he penned the First Citizen...
Bill of Rights Institute
Bill of Rights Institute: Elbridge Gerry
Elbridge Gerry is remembered today for his controversial attempt as governor to draw congressional districts in Massachusetts to the advantage of his party. Indeed, "gerrymandering" is a common political tactic today and undeniably part...