The medieval English charter known as Magna Carta was intended as a local political document, created to make peace between England's King John and his barons in the early thirteenth century. However, it carried within it powerful ideas about the limits of government and the importance of individual liberty, and its influence has spread across the centuries and around the globe.
In the October 2014 issue of Social Education, the journal of the National Council for the Social Studies, our "Sources and Strategies" article focused on the presidential election of 1864.
In the September 2014 issue of Social Education, the journal of the National Council for the Social Studies, our "Sources and Strategies" article focused on the economic challenges facing the young United States at the time of the Constitutional Convention. We suggested that continental currency might ignite student interest in the subject.
The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution is well known to many Americans. But the meaning of those 52 words, and the original intent of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, are still widely studied and debated.
The original Constitution of the United States was nearly mute on voting rights, ceding them to the states to determine. The 15th Amendment to the Constitution confers voting rights on African Americans, declaring that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
Looking for a Constitution Day activity? Have students zoom in on actual draft documents to learn what’s behind the main ideas in the Constitution. They’re sure to discover some intriguing changes along the way.
