Civic Literacy Curriculum: Table of Contents
Section 1
Principles of the American Republic
- Q1-2: Constitutional Government
- Exercise: Annotate the Constitution
- Primary sources utilized:
- U.S. Constitution
- Q3: The Constitution
- Exercise: Create a brochure about the Constitution
- Primary sources utilized:
- U.S. Constitution
- Q4: “We the People”
- Exercise: Compare monarchies and republics
- Q5: Constitutional Amendments
- Exercise: Write a Constitution for your class
- Q6: The Bill of Rights
- Exercise: Make an infographic about the Bill of Rights
- Primary sources utilized:
- United States Bill of Rights
- Q7: Constitutional Amendments II
- Exercise: Exhibit a short presentation on an Amendment
- Primary sources utilized:
- U.S. Constitution
- Q8-9: Declaring Independence
- Exercise: Give a speech on independence
- Primary sources utilized:
- Declaration of Independence
- Patrick Henry, Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death
- Q10-11: The Declaration and Founding Ideals
- Exercise: Annotate the Declaration of Independence
- Primary sources utilized:
- Declaration of Independence
- Q12: The Economic System of the United States
- Exercise: Take part in the guided discussion on Wealth of Nations
- Primary sources utilized:
- Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations
- Q13: The Rule of Law
- Exercise: Compose a story of life under absolute power
- Q14: Antecedents to the US Constitution
- Exercise: Trace influences of Mayflower Compact and VA Declaration of Rights on Constitution
- Primary sources utilized:
- Mayflower Compact
- Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776)
- Declaration of Independence
- U.S. Constitution
- Q15: Separation of Powers
- Exercise: Use the graphic organizer to assess separation of powers
Section 2
- Q16-17: The Branches of Government
- Exercise: Create posters explaining the 3 branches of U.S. government
- Q18: Congress and Lawmaking
- Exercise: Make a flowchart of the lawmaking process
- Q19-20: Congress
- Exercise: Write a job description of Congress
- Q21 & 27-28: The Senate and the States
- Exercise: Make a meme about the Senate
- Q22: Senate Terms of Office
- Exercise: Debate about how long Senate terms should be
- Primary sources utilized:
- Federalist 62, 63 (excerpts)
- Q23: Your Senators
- Exercise: Write to your U.S. Senator
- Q24: The House of Representatives: Its Size
- Exercise: Debate about how large the house should be
- Q25-26: The House of Representatives and Popular Opinion
- Exercise: Create a worksheet to help peers understand Congress
- Q29: Your Representative
- Exercise: Write to your U.S. Representative
- Q30: The Speaker of the House
- Exercise: Create a job description for the U.S. Speaker of the House
- Q31-32: The Senate and State Citizens
- Exercise: Write a journal article about being a Senator when the 17th amendment was being considered
- Q33-35: The House of Representatives and the People
- Exercise: Participate in the guided reading on Apportionment Acts and discuss the historical methods of calculating apportionment
- Primary sources utilized:
- Apportionment Acts of 1792, 1911
- Q36-37: Presidential Terms and Limits
- Exercise: Join the guided reading on avoiding monarchy
- Primary sources utilized:
- James Madison, National Gazette, 1792
- Abraham Lincoln, Lyceum Address
- Q38: The Current President
- Exercise: Write a job description of the President
- Q39: The Current Vice President
- Exercise: Write a job description of the Vice President
- Q40: The Line of Succession
- Exercise: Make a poster or t-shirt on the line of succession
Section 2
- Q41 & 45: Powers of the President
- Exercise: Compare excerpts of the U.S. Constitution to three alternative proposals created by the National Constitution Center (one libertarian, one progressive, one conservative)
- Primary sources utilized:
- US Constitution
- National Constitution Center: Constitution Drafting Project
- Q42: The President as Commander in Chief
- Exercise: Join the guided discussion on division of warmaking powers between congress and the president
- Primary sources utilized:
- U.S. Constitution
- Federalist 69
- Q43-44: Presidential Signings and Vetoes
- Exercise: Sign or veto mock bills on Constitutional Federalism and policy grounds
- Q46-48: The Executive Branch and Cabinet
- Exercise: Create a collage of executive agencies/the cabinet
- Q49: The Electoral College
- Exercise: Hold a mock student election with an electoral college
- Q50-51: The Judicial Branch
- Exercise: Participate in the guided reading of Plessy v. Ferguson
- Primary sources utilized:
- Plessy v. Ferguson
- Q52: The Supreme Court
- Exercise: Guided discussion of free speech law
- Primary sources utilized:
- Matal v. Tam
- Q53-54: Members of the Supreme Court
- Exercise: Write a journal as a member of the supreme court deciding a case
- Primary sources utilized:
- Kyllo v. United States
- Q55-56: The Supreme Court and Judicial Independence
- Exercise: Play a referee in a case study roleplay
- Primary sources utilized:
- Federalist 78
- Q57: The Chief Justice
- Exercise: Participate in the guided readings of Riley v. California
- Primary sources utilized:
- Riley v. California
- Q58: The Powers of the Federal Government: Enumerated Powers
- Exercise: Make a Venn diagram comparing state and federal powers
- Primary sources utilized:
- Federalist 32, 39, 45, 51, 62 (excerpts)
- Q59: The Powers of States: Reserved Powers
- Exercise: Research annotated readings on state powers
- Primary sources utilized:
- Jacobson v. Massachusetts
- Federalist 32, 39, 45, 51, 62 (excerpts)
- Q60: The Tenth Amendment
- Exercise: Examine political cartoons on court cases
- Primary sources utilized:
- Schecter Poultry Corp v. United States
- Wickard v. Filburn
- Governor Franklin Roosevelt on Federalism, 1929-1930
- Q61: State Governors
- Exercise: Compare the governorships created by these state constitutions
- Primary sources utilized:
- Constitutions of Arizona, Indiana, New Hampshire, Texas, Virginia
- Q62: State Capitols
- Exercise: Write a letter to your state legislator or governor
- Q126-127: Political Parties
- Exercise: Send a letter to the editor about the role of political parties
- Primary sources utilized:
- George Washington, Farewell Address
Section 3
- Q63: Suffrage Amendments to the Constitution
- Exercise: Write an editorial on voting
- Primary sources utilized:
- U.S. Constitution
- Q64: Rights and Responsibilities of Citizens
- Exercise: Write a public service announcement about jury duty
- Primary sources utilized:
- Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, “The Jury Considered as a Political Institution”
- Q65: The Bill of Rights
- Exercise: Give a speech on which individual liberty in the Bill of Rights is most important
- Primary sources utilized:
- U.S. Bill of Rights
- Q66: The Pledge of Allegiance
- Exercise: Learn about folding the American flag
- Primary sources utilized
- U.S. Flag Code
- Q67-68: US Citizenship
- Exercise: Take an abridged citizenship test
- Q69-70: Civic Participation
- Exercise: Assess the free speech and workplace case study
- Q71: Federal Taxation
- Exercise: Study the federal budget
- Primary sources utilized:
- Congressional Budget Office Data 2019
- Q72: Selective Service
- Exercise: Participate in the guided readings on the passage of the 26th Amendment
Section 4
Colonial Period and Independence
- Q73: English Colonists
- Exercise: Make an advertisement convincing a British citizen to move to America
- Primary sources utilized:
- Mayflower Compact
- Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776)
- Christopher Columbus’s Journal
- Letters to Walter Raleigh
- Q74: Indigenous Peoples
- Exercise: Tweet about an imaginary encounter between pilgrims and indigenous people
- Primary sources utilized:
- Christopher Columbus’s Journal
- Letters to Walter Raleigh
- Q75: African Slaves
- Exercise: Participate in the guided readings of Frederick Douglass’ Speeches
- Primary sources utilized:
- What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?
- Is the Constitution Proslavery or Antislavery
- Q76-77 & 80: The American Revolution
- Exercise: Analyze the journal of a revolutionary soldier
- Primary sources utilized:
- Declarations and Resolves of the First Continental Congress
- Journal of James Thacher
- Q78: The Declaration of Independence
- Exercise: Join a scavenger hunt about how the Declaration of Independence shaped the constitution
- Primary sources utilized:
- Declaration of Independence
- U.S. Constitution
- Q79: Drafting the Declaration of Independence
- Exercise: Compare different drafts of the Declaration of Independence
- Primary sources utilized:
- Declaration of Independence, Jefferson’s First Draft
- Declaration of Independence, Revised Committee Version
- Declaration of Independence, Congressional Revision
- Q81: The Thirteen States
- Exercise: Compare the following five revolutionary state constitutions
- Primary sources utilized:
- Constitutions of Pennsylvania (1776), Virginia (1776), New York (1777), Georgia (1777), South Carolina (1778), Massachusetts (1780), and New Hampshire (1784)
- Q82: The Constitutional Convention
- Exercise: Create a Venn diagram comparing the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution
- Primary sources utilized:
- Articles of Confederation
- U.S. Constitution
- Federalist 32, 39, 45, 51, 62 (excerpts)
- James Madison, Vices of the Political System of the United States
- Richard Henry Lee to George Mason on the Convention
- Q83-84: The Federalist Papers
- Exercise: Analyze the arguments of Federalist 10
- Primary sources utilized
- Federalist 10
- Q85: Benjamin Franklin
- Exercise: Design a Benjamin Franklin meme
- Primary sources utilized:
- Poor Richard’s Almanac
- Q86: George Washington
- Exercise: Tweet George Washington’s Farewell Address
- Primary sources utilized
- George Washington, Farewell Address
- Q87: Thomas Jefferson
- Exercise: Debate over the constitutionality of the National Bank
- Primary sources utilized:
- Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton on the Bank
- Q88: James Madison
- Exercise: Compare different drafts of Bill of Rights amendments
- Primary sources utilized:
- Amendments Recommended by the State Ratifying Conventions and Amendments Proposed by James Madison (1788-89)
- Madison’s Speech Proposing Amendments to the Constitution (June 8, 1789) (optional)
- Madison on Constitutional Interpretation
- Debate in the House of Representatives, Annals of Congress (1796)
- Letter to John Jackson (1821); Letter to Thomas Ritchie (1821);
- Letter to Henry Lee (1824)
- Q89: Alexander Hamilton
- Exercise: Participate in the guided readings of the Debate over the Neutrality Proclamation
- Primary sources utilized:
- James Madison, Helvidius. 1
- Alexander Hamilton, Pacificus. 1
Section 5
- Q90: The Louisiana Territory
- Exercise: Explore National Archives Maps of Lewis and Clark’s Expedition
- Q91: Wars of the 1800s
- Exercise: Create a timeline of major American wars in the 1800s
- Q92-93 & 96: The Civil War
- Exercise: Participate in the guided readings on why the south seceded
- Primary sources utilized:
- Secession Declarations from Mississippi and Georgia
- Alexander Stephens, Cornerstone Speech
- 1860 Republican Party Platform
- Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address
- Q94-95: Abraham Lincoln
- Exercise: Annotate the Emancipation Proclamation and related documents
- Primary sources utilized:
- Emancipation Proclamation
- Letter to James C. Conkling, August 26, 1863
- Letter to Treasury Secretary (and future Chief Justice) Salmon Chase, September 2, 1863
- Letter to Albert G. Hodges, editor of Frankfort (KY) Commonwealth, April 4, 1864
- Q97-98: The Reconstruction Amendments
- Exercise: Participate in the guided readings of the Dred Scott Case
- Primary sources utilized:
- Dred Scott v. Sandford (Taney, McLean, and Curtis excerpts)
- Abraham Lincoln, Speech on the Dred Scott Case
- Frederick Douglass, Reconstruction
- Q99 & 102: Women’s Suffrage and Susan B. Anthony
- Exercise: Participate in the guided readings of the Seneca Falls Declaration
- Primary sources utilized:
- Seneca Falls Declaration
Section 6
- Q100: Wars of the 1900s
- Exercise: Create a timeline of major American wars in the 1800s
- Q101: Woodrow Wilson and World War I
- Exercise: Write a persuasive speech for or against the league of nations
- Primary sources utilized:
- Woodrow Wilson, Fourteen Points
- Covenant of the League of Nations
- Henry Cabot Lodge, Speeches on the League of Nations
- Lodge Reservations
- Q103-105: The Great Depression, World War II, and Franklin Roosevelt
- Exercise: Participate in the guided readings of Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats
- Primary sources utilized
- Arsenal of Democracy
- Attack on Pearl Harbor
- Fireside Chat on the War with Japan
- Q106: World War II
- Exercise: Map out the Axis invasions
- Q107: Dwight Eisenhower
- Exercise: Participate in the guided readings of Eisenhower’s Farewell Address
- Primary sources utilized
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, Farewell Address
- Q108: The Soviet Union
- Exercise: Annotate Revelations from the Soviet Archives
- Primary sources utilized:
- Library of Congress Collection: Revelations from the Soviet Archives
- Q109-111: Communism and the Cold War
- Exercise: Participate in the guided readings of Communist Manifesto
- Primary sources utilized:
- Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Communist Manifesto
- Library of Congress Collection: Revelations from the Soviet Archives
- Q112-113: The Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King Jr.
- Exercise: Annotate speeches written by Martin Luther King Jr.
- Primary sources utilized:
- Martin Luther King Jr., I Have a Dream
- Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail
- Q114-116: Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
- Exercise: Write a presidential speech responding to Al Qaeda attack in 2001
- Primary sources utilized:
- George Bush, Address to the Nation, September 11, 2001
- Q117: American Indian Tribes
- Exercise: Participate in the guided readings of indigenous. perspectives on American history
- Primary sources utilized:
- An indigenous. view of the American Revolution, Buckongahelas (Delaware, 1781)
- An indigenous. Constitution (Cherokee Constitution, 1827)
- An indigenous. view of Indian Removal: Letters from Chief John Ross (Cherokee, 1836)