Essential Documents
- Vices of the Political System of the United States, 1787, James Madison
- Notes on the Debates in the Federal Convention, 1787, James Madison
- Constitution of the United States, 1787
- Letter to Congress Recommending the Constitution, 1787
- Federalist I, 1787
More documents are available on our Timeline
Archived Webinars
- American Controversies: Is the Constitution Pro- or Anti-Slavery?
- American Controversies: Did the Founders Misunderstand Democracy?
- American Controversies: Did the Founders Misunderstand Equality?
- Making a Constitutional Republic
- Reflection and Choice versus Accident and Force: Making the Constitution
Lesson Plans
- A Walking Tour of the Constitution – help your students learn and retain the fundamentals of the Constitution, and create a useful reference for themselves in the process
- Founding Principles – a writing lesson that will help students identify and explain a few of the core principles expressed in the Constitution
- The Constitutional Convention of 1787 – three related lessons exploring different phases of the Convention
- The Federalist-Antifederalist Debates: Diversity and the Extended Republic – two related lessons exploring key issues debated over ratification of the Constitution
- Democracy vs. Republic: Federalist 10 and the balancing act between majority and minority interests
- Christy’s “Signing of the Constitution of the United States”: a lesson about the Constitution using a visual approach, rooted in Howard Chandler Christy’s famous painting