Madison was there! Scholars go on a journey to discover the person behind the founding father label as they explore James Madison's role in the formation of the United States government. The culmination is a writing assignment and...

To war! To war! Every nation in the history of the world has had to deal with warfare on some level. Scholars go through a series of activities and discussions surrounding the development of the Constitution to help them better...

How much power is too much power for the federal government? Scholars use primary documents and constitutional research in groups to analyze the creation of the Second National Bank under James Madison. This is the second lesson of a...

Who has the power? The founding fathers asked the same question when the United States was formed. Learners explore issues that arose during Madison’s presidency that raised constitutional questions. Through discovery, discussion, and...

Young scholars investigate reasons why James Madison is called the "Father of the Constitution." They discuss three events during his presidency that raised constitutional questions and look at Madison's opinions of those questions. They...

After reading a sample memo regarding the conflict between Britain and France before the War of 1812, class members assume the role of James Madison and brainstorm how to handle the situation. They will then analyze the creation and...

Students investigate President Madison's War Message. Students read the message and discuss any information they may have misunderstood. Students hypothesize about what kinds of documents might help them find answers to their questions.

Students investigate President Madison's case for declaring war against Great Britain. Students assume the roles of newspaper reporters and cite key points in Madison's argument for declaring war, and hypothesize about primary documents...

For this everyday editing learning exercise, students correct grammatical mistakes in a short paragraph about President James Madison. The errors range from capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and grammar.

Delve into the responsibilities of the president by looking at President Hamilton's opinion of the presidential office in his own words. The second in a three-part series, the resource also offers an interesting compare-and-contrast...

Explore the causes and results of the War of 1812. Covered are reasons the war began, changing presidency, major battles, and The Treaty of Ghent. This presentation could be appropriate for grades 5-8, but could work for high school...

Students analyze primary documents to determine why President Madison believed it was important for the US to declare war with Great Britain. Students research documents on the Internet to determine President Madison's argument for going...

Sixth graders research and examine the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America. They sequence events significant to this time period, read and discuss text, and in small groups prepare and present the...

Students identify the Articles of Confederation and explain why it failed. They explain the argument over the need for a bill of rights in the Constitution and James Madison's role in securing its adoption by first Congress. Finally,...

Students read and analyze a letter writtine by Dolley Madison. They evaluate a cartoon. They evaluate portraits of Dolley and James Madison. They create an earlier version of the original letter based on the information they have gathered.

Pupils examine the proposition of a country without the Bill of Rights. In a role-playing activity, teams of students gather information to build a case for retaining the Bill of Rights and present it before their congressperson.

Students read the test of the Monroe Doctrine then list the key points and discuss its central tenets.

Students identify Articles of Confederation and explain why it failed, explain argument over need for Bill of Rights in Constitution and James Madison's role in securing it's adoption, and compare and contrast ideas of Federalists and...

Students identify specific passages in the Monroe Doctrine to events in early U.S. diplomacy.

Students identify conditions in Europe that relate to the independence movements in South America and list reasons why President Monroe gave for recognizing the independence movement in South America.

Young scholars identify factors which lead to the development of the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. They examine the writings of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton as well. They discuss what elements are needed for an...

Students critique the Creation of the U.S. Constitution. They list some ideas proposed and debated during the Constitutional Convention. Discussion of the important issues requiring compromise are examined.

Students read biographies of their assigned Founding Father. They present an oral argument that their assignee deserves to be better known by making connections between regional politics and postions defined by character.

Students assume identities of lawmakers, judges, writers, and protestors during times in American history when freedoms of speech and press were limited because country was on the brink of war or fighting one. Students use primary source...