Unit 1 – Foundations of American Democracy
American Government and Politics – the Stories of Our Nation
The Constitution – A New Vision of Government
Federalism – Dividing Power between the National Government and the States
American Government and Politics – the Stories of Our Nation
The Constitution – A New Vision of Government
Federalism – Dividing Power between the National Government and the States
These links below open to lessons and handouts that will start the course.
The first lesson is basically a short test of what you know about government called the Pre-Constitution Brainstorm
This handout opens to an introductory lesson on the different Types of Democracy which is followed by a lesson different Types of Government.
This handout covers several important definitions and the Declaration of Independence that are essential for understanding the first part of this course.
The next step for a new government was the creation of The Articles of Confederation. This link opens to the original document which is another primary source for the course. To simply this rather long and verbose document, I have created a short Articles of Confederation presentation that shows both the positives and negatives of the document. A quick guide is this table that shows the major differences between The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.
The Constitutional Convention in 1787 is a major event in United States history but it was not without its problems. This lesson opens to a detailed description of the events that took place.
This link opens to the National Constitution Center and their Interactive Constitution of the United States which is the base document for the following lesson and primary documents.
The first lesson is basically a short test of what you know about government called the Pre-Constitution Brainstorm
This handout opens to an introductory lesson on the different Types of Democracy which is followed by a lesson different Types of Government.
This handout covers several important definitions and the Declaration of Independence that are essential for understanding the first part of this course.
The next step for a new government was the creation of The Articles of Confederation. This link opens to the original document which is another primary source for the course. To simply this rather long and verbose document, I have created a short Articles of Confederation presentation that shows both the positives and negatives of the document. A quick guide is this table that shows the major differences between The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.
The Constitutional Convention in 1787 is a major event in United States history but it was not without its problems. This lesson opens to a detailed description of the events that took place.
This link opens to the National Constitution Center and their Interactive Constitution of the United States which is the base document for the following lesson and primary documents.
The next lesson is Ratification of the Constitution but before we cover this handout we need to read, examine and fully understand the following documents that relate to the ratification of the Constitution:
Federalist No. 10
Federalist No. 51
Brutus No. 1
Once you have opened and read (and possibly downloaded) the four documents shown above, please go now to the lesson on Ratification of the Constitution.
The issue of a Bill of Rights was key to ratification. Once completed the Bill of Rights was completed and this presentation covers the first ten amendments to the Constitution.
There have only been Twenty Seven Amendments since ratification, some of which were major changes to American society, others were technical problems faced during modern times. This short handout opens to a list of the twenty-seven amendments.
Federalist No. 10
Federalist No. 51
Brutus No. 1
Once you have opened and read (and possibly downloaded) the four documents shown above, please go now to the lesson on Ratification of the Constitution.
The issue of a Bill of Rights was key to ratification. Once completed the Bill of Rights was completed and this presentation covers the first ten amendments to the Constitution.
There have only been Twenty Seven Amendments since ratification, some of which were major changes to American society, others were technical problems faced during modern times. This short handout opens to a list of the twenty-seven amendments.
Federalism: The first handout is Part 1 of Federalism, the system that divides power between the national and state governments. In this handout there are several definitions that need to be fully understood in both specifics and examples for the AP examination. The second handout for federalism is titled Federalism in Action, and it is a continuation of Part 1. The final handout that covers federalism (and it is also the last one for unit 1) is called The Supreme Court and Modern Federalism. Please note that this handout contains important details and links to several key Supreme Court cases.
This link opens to a Vocabulary and Definitions List used in the handouts of Unit 1.