Bill of Rights
Professor Gordon Lloyd examines the U.S. Bill of Rights, its wording, its drafting and acceptance, and the arguments that sprang up surrounding it during its creation.
Professor Gordon Lloyd examines the U.S. Bill of Rights, its wording, its drafting and acceptance, and the arguments that sprang up surrounding it during its creation.
Professor Gordon Lloyd follows the early history of the United States from 1776 to 1787, focusing on the forms of government that were established to try to realize the sentiments expressed in the Declaration of Independence.
Professor Christopher Flannery examines the prominence of the Declaration of Independence in U.S. history and present life, the context in which it was written, and the intentions of its drafters. He looks at the ethics and morality represented in the document.
This iCue Mini-Documentary describes the Homestead Act, signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1862 as a way to encourage settlement of the American West.
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John Sevier (1745-1815), early pioneer, Indian fighter, governor of the failed State of Franklin, and first governor of Tennessee, built a plantation home, which he called Marble Springs, when he came to the state capital, Knoxville, in 1796. The site had been a way station for travelers along the road to Knoxville. He and his wife, Bonny Kate, lived at Marble Springs until his death. The only original building, the two-story main cabin, has been restored and furnished with Sevier family items and other frontier pieces. Additions include a kitchen, a loom house, a smokehouse, a spring house, and a barn. The Walker Cabin, circa 1830, has been moved to the site and features artifacts and a video presentation.
A second website for the site can be found here.
The site offers a short film, tours, workshops, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).
Adena was the 2,000-acre estate of Thomas Worthington (17731827), sixth governor of Ohio and one of the state's first United States Senators. The mansion house, completed in 18061807, has been restored to look much as it did when the Worthington family lived there, including many original Worthington family furnishings. The house is one of only three houses designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe still standing in the U.S. Latrobe is considered the first professional American architect and served as architect of the US capitol under President Thomas Jefferson. A new Museum and Education Center features interactive exhibits that use the stories of people connected to Adena to give visitors a picture of life in Ohio in the early 1800s.
The Friends of Adena website, complimentary to the Ohio Historical Society's website, may be found here.
The mansion offers exhibits, tours, and educational programs.
This institute will provide educators the opportunity to engage in serious study and seminar-style discussion of basic issues of political theory and the values and principles of American constitutional democracy.
This seminar will explore a controversial era shrouded in myths and memories. Among the topics it will examine are the presidencies of John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon; the civil rights movement; the Vietnam War; the New Left; the counterculture; the women's movement; the gay movement; the conservative movement; the international dimension of youth protest; and the legacies of the 1960s. The aim of the seminar is to provide a balanced history of a turbulent time that continues to influence American politics, society, and culture.
This three-day workshop examines the life of Winston Churchill. Participants will develop strategies for applying historical content in the classroom and across the curriculum.
The institute is divided into three levels, as follows:
101: This 40-hour training begins with an in-depth study of the Declaration of Independence. Participants will then be taken through the ancient and European origins of the U.S. Constitution, followed by the American origins. The training will continue with a famous Federalist debating a famous Anti-Federalist over whether a New York State convention should vote to ratify the Constitution in 1788.
Then attending teachers will be taken on a walk through the seven articles of the Constitution. The remainder of the time will be spent studying the First Amendment and famous Supreme Court cases on the First Amendment, including the current term cases.
The agenda is divided into blocks of time spent with scholars, followed by break-out sessions where activities are demonstrated on the curriculum covered in the scholar sessions.
201: Available to those teachers who have completed the 101 session, the advanced session begins with a look at the "Ladder of the Bill of Rights." The remainder of the three-day, 18-hour institute is spent studying Amendments Two through 10, along with Supreme Court cases decided under each of these amendments. Break-out sessions follow each scholar session with activities on the Bill of Rights.
301: The one-day, seven-hour Update Session is available to those teachers who have previously attended both 101 and 201. Participants will spend most of the time discussing Supreme Court cases that have been decided during the past few years with the scholars. They will also receive a new activity guide, which includes lessons on Federalism and writing.