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Lace up your shoes and learn how candidates run the race to become President of the United States!
Every election, candidates spend a lot of money on their campaign. Do you know where the candidates get the money and what they spend it on?
Where do we draw the line? Find out how redistricting turns into gerrymandering, and how gerrymandering negatively impacts people in those districts.
For over two centuries, American political offices have peacefully transferred power after every election.
Public opinion polls can give insight into people's priorities and opinions, and give candidates and the media a sense of the whole picture.
Voting laws vary by state. Where do your state's laws fit on the wide spectrum of election laws across the country?
What is ranked-choice voting? How does it work? This infographic will walk you through the process!
How does a bill become a law? Follow this decision tree through the life and death of a bill in Congress.
In this lesson, students evaluate hypothetical candidates by establishing and applying their own criteria for selecting public officials.
Look into the ideas and writings of the Italian thinker and politician, Niccoló Machiavelli (1429-1527).
The Enlightenment was a period of time, starting around 1715, when people developed new ideas about human existence, including people's basic rights and the purpose of government.…
Introduce students to the ideas and writings of John Locke that influenced the likes of Thomas Jefferson and other Founding Fathers.
Meet the Baron de Montesquieu, one of the great thinkers of the 18th century. He spent a lot of time thinking about how governments should be created and maintained. These ideas…
Explore the ideas of Enlightenment thinker, Jean-Jacques Rousseau. His writings on natural and social freedom, the social contract, and democracy shaped the American system of…
"The First American", Benjamin Franklin, is the only Founding Father that signed all three major documents that founded the United States of America: the Declaration of…
Check out George Mason's role in the founding of the U.S. Even though he never served as a president and refused to sign the Constitution, Mason's work in Virginia and with the…
Review the variety of roles that George Washington played in America's early years. From commanding the Continental Army, to presiding over the Constitutional Convention, to…
Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States, but he played many political roles throughout our nation’s history. His political life influenced the country in many…
This mini-lesson digs into the 41 year political career of James Madison. Considered the author of the U.S. Constitution, Madison was a prime architect in creating a strong…
Look at the debate, and eventual compromise, between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists that occured around the creation of the U.S. Constitution.
Lesson Plan
