We the People Civic/Government 101

WE THE PEOPLE: Civics/Government 101

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A TEACHER’S RESOURCE MANUAL

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WE THE PEOPLE: Civics/Government 101

TEACHER’S MANUAL

This CD-Rom based program is designed to cover the complete curriculum of a conventional Civics course. It combines narration, text and original source documents in a cohesive fashion, that both make the study of civics interesting for students, while at the same time developing the skills necessary to understand the workings of the political system in the United States.

"We The People…" is divided into sections. Unlike a text book, with one beginning, middle and end, items in the program can be accessed in any order that you wish. This outline provides one way of ordering the information. It is not however, the only way you can do so.

I. THE CONSTITUTION

A) HISTORY OF THE US CONSTITUTION

OBJECTIVE: To learn about the events that lead to the writing of the Constitution.

In order to fully understand the Constitution and the American political system it is necessary to first look at the events that led to the writing of the Constitution and the adoption of the American political system that has endured to this day.

1215….. MAGNA CARTA

The Magna Carta is the first entry to this section. What was the historic importance of this document?

1629….. PETITION OF RIGHTS

What rights did the Petition of Rights bestow?

1689….. ENGLISH BILL OF RIGHTS

What was one of the major provisions of this Bill or Rights?

1764….. BRITISH IMPOSE NEW TAXES

What was special about the taxes that the British imposed at this time?

1765….. STAMP ACT PASSED

The Stamp Tax, created a much greater uproar than the American Revenue Act- Why?

1767….. TOWNSHEND ACT PASSED

The Townshend Act significantly increased the tensions between the colonies and England. How important were English domestic concerns in determining and ultimately convincing the British to impose the Townshend Act.

1768….. BRITISH TROOPS SENT TO BOSTON

What was the effect of the British dispatching troops to Boston to maintain order?

1770….. BOSTON MASSACRE

The Boston Massacre represents the first shedding of blood on the road to the Revolutionary War. How important was this event?

Were the British soldiers justified in opening fire on the colonist.

Exercise: Set up a mock trail of the British troops.

1770….. TOWNSHEND ACT REPEALED

Why did the British Parliament repeal most of the Townshend Act, while maintaining the restrictions on tea?

1773….. BOSTON TEA PARTY

Why did the colonists dress up as Indians while perpetrating the Boston Tea Party?

1774….. COERCIVE ACTS IMPOSED

Why did the British Parliament impose the Coercive Acts?

Was the Parliament unaware of the potential response?

1774….. FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS MEETS

What caused the first Continental Congress to meet?

1776….. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

Why was the Declaration on Independence issued?

EXERCISE: Establish a mock Continental Congress. Create two groups of people those supporting immediate independence and those wishing to wait.

1781….. ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

THE WEAKNESSES OF THE CONFEDERATION

What were the major weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?

1786….. ANNAPOLIS MEETING

Did the Annapolis meeting accomplish anything?

1786….. SHAY’S REVOLT

How did the Shay’s Revolt garner additional support for a Constitutional Convention?

1787….. CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

The first order of business at the Constitutional Convention was to elect Washington as Chairman. What did this accomplish?

1787….. VIRGINIA PLAN

What were the major provisions of the Virginia Plan?

1787….. NEW JERSEY PLAN

What were the major elements of the New Jersey plan?

1787…... GREAT COMPROMISES

What were the major elements of the Great Compromise?

Politics have been described by many as "the art of compromise". To others, the very fact that politicians are always willing to compromise seems to confirm a belief that politicians are unprincipled. Could there have been a United States without any compromise?

1788…… RATIFICATION

B) US CONSTITUTION: THE DOCUMENT

OBJECTIVE: To study and understand the intent behind the text of the Constitution.

The program includes the full text of the Constitution. Each section is presented separately and includes explanations of the important points of that particular section.

EXERCISE: Have students summarize what aspects of government are dealt with in each of the different articles.

1) THE AMENDMENTS

The Constitution section includes entries on all of the amendments to the Constitution. Each amendment includes an explanation of the basic provision of that amendment.

The first 10 amendments to the Constitution were adopted by Congress in the first year. They were passed as a result of concerns of States during the ratification process. Those States, especially the key states of Massachusetts and Virginia, believed that the Constitution did not provide enough protection against the powers of the State, thus the first ten amendments were born. These first ten became known as the "Bill of Rights". Here we review the major provisions of the amendments (note: in a separate section we deal in depth the with meanings and interpretation of the Bill of Rights.)

1^st Amendment….. What are the basic provision of the 1^st amendment?

Are they absolute?

2^nd Amendment….. What are its provisions?

Today this amendment and its meaning are disputed.

What are the issues?

3^rd Amendment…… Is there any relevance to this amendment today?

Why was it enacted?

4^th Amendment…… From what type of searches does this amendment protect Americans?

5^th Amendment…… This amendment provides many protections for Americans in criminal cases. What are they?

6^th Amendment…… This amendment guarantees speedy trials for the accused.

What else does this amendment guarantee?

7^th Amendment…… Why was a trial by jury important to those who wrote the

Bill of Rights?

8^th Amendment…… What is bail?

9^th Amendment…… This amendment states that the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights are not the only rights guaranteed to Americans.

Why was this stated?

10^th Amendment….. What powers remain in the hands of the people?

11^th Amendment….. Why was the 11^th amendment passed?

12^th amendment….. What event took place changing the means by which Presidents

are elected?

13^th Amendment ….. Why was it necessary to pass this amendment ending slavery?

14^th Amendment……What rights does the 14^th amendment protect?

15^th Amendment……What voting rights does the 15h amendment protect?

16^th Amendment……The 16^th amendment was passed to allow an income tax to be

levied. Why was it necessary?

17^th Amendment….. How had Senators been elected prior to the passage of

the 17^th amendment?

18^th Amendment….. This amendment outlawed the sale of liquor. Why was it passed?

19^th amendment….. This amendment guaranteed the right of women to vote?

Why was it needed?

20^th Amendment….. This amendment changed the date of the inauguration of the Presidency. What was the advantage of this date change?

21^st Amendment….. What previous amendment did this amendment repeal?

22^nd Amendment…..This amendment limited the term of the President to two four year terms. Why was it passed at the time that it was passed?

23^rd Amendment….. This amendment provided the Presidents in Washington, DC the right to vote. Why was an amendment needed for this purpose?

24^th Amendment….. What was the underlying purpose of the 24^th amendment?

25^th Amendment….. This amendment changed Presidential succession.

Why was it passed? When was it used?

26^th Amendment….. Passed in the shadow of the Vietnam War, this amendment gave the right to vote to 18 year olds. Can you think of a slogan that might have been used to support this amendment’s passage?

27^th Amendment….. This amendment stated that Senators and Representatives could

not change their own pay. A change would only take effect after the next re-election.

2) THE FEDERALIST PAPERS

This section includes the complete set of Federalist papers. They are in fact the best record that we have on the thinking of key founding fathers on the meaning of the Constitution. Have different students each read one of the Federalist Papers and summarize that paper.

The arguments of the first ones are as follows:

Hamilton writes the Introduction

Jay writes on the Dangers from Foreign Influence

Jay continues

Jay states that union brings strength

Jay writes how bad the a disunited country is

Hamilton writes about the danger of Civil War

Hamilton continues about the dangers of civil conflict

Hamilton writes more about the danger of civil conflict

Hamilton writes that the size of the union assures its security

Madison writes how faction can cause difficulties

Hamilton writes on the advantage of union for commerce and the navy

Hamilton writes how union will effect taxes

Hamilton writes how the union will lower the overall tax burden

Madison writes how the size of the union is right

Hamilton attacks the Articles of Confederation

II) THE BILL OF RIGHTS

OBJECTIVE: For students to know what rights Americans have, and to understand how those rights changed over time.

The program includes a special section that examines the Bill of Rights

There is multimedia presentation which presents an overview of the Bill of Rights.
The narrated entries in this section include:

1. OVERVIEW: What is the Bill of Rights and how did it come about?

2. EXTENSION OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS:

Why did the Bill of Rights initially only apply to actions of the Federal government? How, and in what way did this change? The program then presents a screen of the different Supreme Court decisions that extended different part of the Bill of Rights to the actions of the States.

a) Separation of Church and State

What is meant by "Separation of Church and State"?

What are the words of the Constitution?

How has it been interpreted over the last 50 years?

(There is a link to Supreme Court decisions on the issue.)
b) Aid to Parochial Schools

What has the Supreme Court decided in regard to aid to Parochial schools?

c) Creationism

Can creationism be taught in schools?

d) Free Exercise of Religion

What are the limits of Freedom of Religion?

e) Freedom of Speech

Justice Oliver Wendell Homes has written: "the most stringent protection

of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a crowded theatre and causing a panic." How does this limit the meaning

of free speech? (There is a link to Supreme Court decisions on the issue.)

f) Symbolic Speech

What is meant by the term "Symbolic Speech"?

What does symbolic speech have to do with Flag burning?

g) Freedom of the Press

What, if any, are the limits of Freedom of Press?

The government has attempted to restrain the publication of certain articles before they were printed, have they been successful?

h) Libel

What is libel?

i) Pornography

What has been the difficulty that the courts have had in dealing with the issue of pornography?

j) Right to Counsel

What does the term "mirandized" mean, and how did it come into being?

k) Search a Seizure

The 4^th amendment protects individual against illegal searches, why is that important?

A murderer can get away with his crime if the police enter a home illegally and then seize evidence. In this case, the evidence obtained can be thrown out of court and a murderer set free. Is that right? Why or why not?

l) Cruel and Unusual Punishment

What is meant by cruel and unusual punishment?

m) Privacy

The right of Privacy is not in the Constitution and yet it has been a cornerstone of some important court decision. What were they?

n) Equal Rights

The founding fathers believed that "All men are created equal". The phrase: "All men" did not include women, nor did it include slaves.

What were the steps along the way to achieve legal equity for all Americans? Are all Americans treated equally today?

o) Voting Rights

How were voting rights of African American abridges?

What has been done to overcome this.

III) THE PRESIDENCY

OBJECTIVE: To give students an understanding of the powers of the President.

This section is divided into three segments. The first is a history of individual Presidents that students can reference. The second is a 20-minute multimedia presentation, which depicts the powers of the presidency as they have expanded and contracted over time.

The third segment, the prime segment is a series of narrated entries that examine individual powers of the President. These entries typically reference the words in the Constitution that bestow the power. The more entries often provide information on controversial that have developed in the interpretation of the power over time.

The entries include the President as:

1. Chief of State: What does the President do as Chief of State?

2. Chief Executive: What is a Chief Executive?

The question of what constitutes executive power has been one of the key areas of contention between President and Congress. What are the issues? There is a link from this entry to the Supreme Court case of Kendall vs the United States. What issue does this Supreme Court case attempt to resolve?

3. Chief Administrator: What role does the President as Chief Administrator fulfill? Have Presidents typically been successful in this role?

4. Power of Appointment: The President appoints individuals to various posts in the government, and the Senate needs to confirm. This is straight forward. However, the Constitution is silent on the issue of whether the President can remove a person from office. What have been decided by the courts about this issue? There are two Supreme Court decisions linked that can be reference.

5. Treaty Maker: Does the President involve the Congress in treaty-making?

6. Power of Recognition: What is the power to recognize a nation?

7. Emergency Powers: What emergency Powers have the President taken?

What has been their constitutional justification for taking these actions?

8. Executive Privilege: Presidents have claimed Executive Privilege since the times of George Washington. What is it? Why has it been so controversial?

9. Commander and Chief: What is the President "Commander and Chief" of?

This power has been used expansively by Presidents. In what ways has that been controversial?

10. Chief Legislator: What does the President do in the capacity of Chief Legislator?

11. Veto Power: What is a veto? How important is veto power to the President?

12. Special Session: This power allows the President to call a special section of Congress. When do you think this power might be needed?

13. Pardon Power: What is a pardon? What is the most well known use of this power by a President?

14. Vice President: What powers does the Vice President have?

EXERCISE: Create a Presidential schedule for a day. Try to include as many different presidential jobs as possible in one day.

IV) THE CONGRESS

OBJECTIVE: To teach students about both the role and powers of Congress, as well as the way congress operates on a day to day basis.

The section is divided into three major segments: The first narrated section "About Congress" describes the day to day working of the Congress,. The Second segment, "The Powers of Congress" describes what actions Congress is empowered or not empowered to take action. The final segment is a narrated History of Congress, which depicts the ebbs and flows of Congressional power over the years.

1) About Congress:

Ã House of Representatives

Ã Qualifications: What are the qualifications for a member of Congress?

Ã Size

Ã What is the size of Congress

Ã Term of Office

Ã How long do House members serve for:

2) The Senate:

Ã Qualifications: What are the qualifications for a member of the Senate?

Ã Term of Office: For what length of time do Senators serve?

Ã In Operations: How does the Senate operate on a day to day basis?

3) The Congress:

Ã Committees: How do the Committee system work?

What bodies do most of the day to day work in the Congress?

Ã Congressional Staff: What staffers do Congress members have?

Ã How a Bill Becomes a Law. This entry has a chart the shows the way a

bill makes its way from when it is first proposed until it becomes a law.

There are also two videos in this section:

¹ In the first, Congresswoman Nita Lowey

(from the home district of MultiEducator)

speaks about the role of Congress.

¹ In the second Congresswoman Lowey describes the constituent

services that she provides the residents of her district.

4) The Powers of Congress- Under the Constitution

1) Taxation

What are the powers of taxation under the Constitution?

2) Borrowing

Who can borrow money under terms of the Constitution?

3) Regulation of Commerce

What is the commerce clause?

4) Naturalization and Bankruptcy

What is Naturalization?

What is Bankruptcy?

5) Coining Money

What is meant by the term coining money?

6) Punishing Counterfeiters

What are Counterfeiters?

7) Establish Postal Service and Postal Road

Why was the Constitution so specific about creating a postal service?

8) Copyrights and Patents

What are copyrights? What are patents?

9) Establishing a Court System

What was the involvement of the Congress in the court system?

10) Piracy

What is piracy?

11) Making War

The Constitution gives the exclusive responsibility of declaring war to the Congress. Does this conflict with President’s job as Commander and Chief?

12) Power over Territory

What does it mean to say that the Congress has the right to exercise power over a specific area?

13) Implied Powers

What is the meaning of the term "necessary and proper"? How has this term been interpreted over time?

14) Elections

How and why has the Congress become involved in the Presidential elections?

15) Amending the Constitution

How can the Constitution be amended?

16) Impeachment

What is impeachment? What is conviction? Who votes for impeachment and who votes for conviction? For what crimes can someone be impeached?

V) THE JUDICIARY

OBJECTIVE: To teach students about the Court System in the US

This section tells the story of the third co-equal branch of the US government— The Judiciary. This section is broken down into a series of narrated entries.

1) State Court System

How is the State Court system organized?

How does the State Court system differ from one part of the country to the other?

2) State Appeals Court

What do the State appeals courts do?

3) State Supreme Court

When can a State Supreme Court judgement be appealed?

4) Jury System

What is the jury system? What type of juries are there?

What are the alternatives to a jury system?

5) US District Courts

What cases does the US District Court hear?

6) US Court of Appeals

What type of cases are heard by the US Court of Appeals?

What specialty courts are at the same level as the Court of Appeals?

7) The Supreme Court

How is a case appealed to the Supreme Court?

What type of cases does the Supreme Court have the first jurisdiction?

Ã Supreme Court at Work

What is the Supreme Court year like?

There is also a narrated section on the history of the Supreme Court.

It tells the story of the high points and low points in history of the court.

VI) FEDERALISM

OBJECTIVE: To provide a student with an understanding of the nature of a federalist system, as well as what is the relationship between State and federal governments.

Overview of Federalism.

What does federalism mean?

The 10^th amendment

The 10^th amendment is critical in understanding the relative power of the federal and state governments. What is the main feature of this amendment?

Expressed Powers

What is the meaning of "expressed powers"?

Implied Powers

What is the difference between "expressed" and "implied" powers?

Powers Denied the Federal Government

What powers are denied the Federal government?

Powers Denied the States

What powers are denied the state?

VII) TAXES, IMMIGRATION, and FOREIGN POLICY

OBJECTIVE: To teach students about taxes, immigration, foreign policy and international organizations.

A) TAXES

How is tax collection separated between State local and federal governments?

What are the main sources of taxes.

1) State Taxes

What is the source of most state revenue?

2) Local Taxes

What is the main source of local taxes?

3) Tax Reform

Why is there a call for tax reform?

B) IMMIGRATION

This entry explains who are citizens and how you can become a citizen. There is an entry on how you can lose your citizenship. There is also a section with statistics on immigration history. Finally, there is a multimedia presentation on the history of immigration.

C) FOREIGN POLICY

There is multimedia presentation on the history of American Foreign policy.

How has it changed over time?

D) INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

There is also a section on International Organizations such as the United Nations, NATO and the World Bank.

VIII) ELECTIONS

OBJECTIVE: To teach students about the electoral process in the United States.

The focus of this section is on presidential elections, but there is also information on state and local elections.

1) Electoral College

What is the Electoral College?

Can someone win the popular vote and yet lose in the electoral college or visa versa?

2) Presidential Nominations

How are Presidents nominated?

What different types of primaries are held?

Exercise: Create mock Presidential primary campaign. End it with Presidential nominating convention.

3) Presidential Campaign

How have presidential campaigns changed over time?

4) Parties

What makes it difficult for third parties to form in the United States?

5) Party Identification

Why have the number of people who consider themselves either "Democrats" or "Republicans" been declining over the last 40 years?

6) Financing Campaigns

Why has financing campaigns become so expensive?

What can be done to limit the effect of money in campaigns?

Finally, there are entries on each and every presidential election.

IX) GLOSSARY

OBJECTIVE: To aquatint students with over 200 important terms and concepts in US civics and government.

In-depth definitions of each of these terms are provided.

Act of Settlement (1701)

Affirmative action

African Development Foundation

Agricultural Cooperative Service

Agricultural Marketing Service

Agricultural Research Service

Alien

Amendment

Amicus curiae Anarchy Animal

and Plant Health Inspection Service

Antitrust Division

Appeal

Appellate court

Appointed

Armed Forces of the United States

Articles of Confederation

Assistant Secretary for Community Planning

and Development

Assistant Secretary for Housing

Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Authority

Balance of trade

Bicameral

Bill of Rights

Bill

Bill of Attainder

Boston Tea Party Briefs

British Bill of Rights (1689)

British Constitution

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)

Bureau of Economic Analysis

Bureau of Engraving and Printing

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Bureau of Land Management Bureau of Prisons

Bureau of Reclamation

Bureau of the Census

Bureau of the Public Debt

Bureaucracy

Cabinet

Cabinet Departments

Campaign

Capitol

Capitol Hill

Caste system

Caucus

Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

Charter

Civil rights laws

Civil rights movements

Civil service

Class system.

Clear and present danger

Colonial charters

Common good

Common law

Chauvinism

Checks and balances

Chief of Staff of the White House

Circuit court

Citizen

Citizenship

Civics

Civil Division

Civil War Amendments

Civil case

Civil disobedience

Civil law

Civil liberties

Civil rights

Concurrent powers (shared powers)

Concurring opinion

Confederate system

Confirmation

Congress

Consent of the governed

Constituency

Constitutional courts

Constitutionalism

Council of Economic Advisors

Covenant

Crime

Criminal Division

Criminal

Criminal law

Declaration of Independence (1776)

Delegated powers

Democracy

Democratic Party Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Department of Commerce

Department of Defense (DOD)

Department of Education

Department of Energy

Department of Health and Human Services

Department of Housing and Urban Development

Department of Justice

Department of Labor

Department of State

Department of the Interior

Department of the Treasury

Department of

Department of Veterans' Affairs

Disfranchised

Dissenting opinion

Divine right

Domestic policy

Domestic tranquillity

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

Dual federalism

Due process of law

E pluribus unum

Election

Electoral college

Eminent domain

Entitlements

Enumerated powers (delegated powers)

Environment and Natural Resources Division

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Equal protection clause

Equal protection of the law

Equality of opportunity

Established religion

Establishment

Ethnic group

Ethnicity

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

Ex post facto

Excise taxes

Exclusionary rule

Executive Office of the President (EOP)

Executive branch

Executive power

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Federal Deposit Insurance Commission (FDIC)

Federal Reserve System

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

Federal judiciary

Federal Deposit Insurance Commission (FDIC)

Federal Reserve System

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

Federal judiciary

Federalism

Federalist Papers (1788)

Feudalism

Filibuster

Financial Management Service

Feudalism

Filibuster

First Lady

Fiscal policy

Food and Drug Administration

Foreign

Foreign policy

Forest Service Founders of the nation

Framers

Franchise

Franking privilege

Free exercise

Free trade

Freedom of assembly

Freedom of expression

Freedom of petition

Freedom of religion

Freedom of speech

Freedom of the press

Full faith and credit

Fundamental rights

Gerrymandering

GOP - "Grand Old Party"

Government Printing Office

Government

Governor

Grand jury

Grandfather clause

Grant-in-aid programs

Great Compromise

Grounds

Gubernatorial

Hatch Act (1939)

Hatch Act Rules

"Hate" speech

Health Resources and Services Administration

High Court

Hobbes, Thomas (1588-1679)

House majority leader

House minority leader

House of Representatives

Ideology

Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)

Impeachment

Implied powers

Incumbent

Independent parties

Individual rights

Interest groups

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

International law

Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)

Interstate commerce

Jim Crow laws

Joint Chiefs of Staff

Judicial activism

Judicial branch

Judicial restraint

Judicial review

Junta

Jurisdiction

Jury

Lame duck

Legislation

laws

Legislative branch

Legislative power

Legislature

Legitimacy

Libel

Liberty

Library of Congress

Line-item veto

Locke, John (1632-1794)

Logrolling

Magna Carta (1215)

Majority leader

Majority rule

Marshall Plan

Matching grants

Mayflower Compact (1620)

Mayor

Merit system

Minority leader

Monarchy

Monetary policy

Montesquieu, Charles de (1689-1755)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

National Economic Council (NEC)

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)

National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)

National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities

National Institute of Health

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)

National Park Service

National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak)

National Science Foundation

National Security Council

National security

Natural Resources Conservation Service

Natural law

Natural rights

Naturalization

Necessary and proper clause

Nepotism

New Jersey Plan

Nobility

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

Ombudsman

Original jurisdiction

Paine, Thomas (1737-1809)

Pardon

Partisan

Party identification

Patent and Trademark Office

Peace Corps

Pentagon

Petit jury

Petition of Right (1629)

Platform

Political action committee (PAC)

Political culture

Political participation

Political party

Politics

Poll tax

Popular sovereignty

Popular vote

Pork-barrel legislation

Precinct

President

Primary

Ratification

Referendum

Representative democracy

Republic

Republican Party

Reserved powers

Revolution

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques (1712-78)

Rule of law

Rule of men

Search warrant

Security and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Selective Service System

Senate

Senate majority leader

Senate minority leader

Separation of church and state

Separation of powers

Shared powers (concurrent powers)

Shays’ Rebellion

Slander

Small Business Administration

Smithsonian Institution

Social Security Administration

Social contract

Solicitor General

Sovereignty

Speaker of the House

Special courts

Stamp Act

Suffrage - right to vote

Supremacy clause

Supreme Court

Symbolic speech

Tariffs

Tax Division

Taxes

Treaty

Treaty ratification

U.S. Coast Guard

U.S. Customs Service

U.S. Secret Service

Unalienable (inalienable) rights

Unenumerated rights

Unfunded mandates

Unicameral

Unitary government

Unitary system

United Nations (U.N.)

United States Bureau of Mines

United States Coast Guard

United States Fish and Wildlife Service

United States Information Agency

United States Marshals Office

United States Mint

United States National Central Bureau

United States Travel and Tourism Administration

Veterans Health Administration

Veto

Vice President

Virginia Plan

Vote

Wall of separation

Wards

Warrant

White House

Writ of certiorari

Writ of habeas corpus

X) FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY

OBJECTIVE: To inform students about day-to-day operations of the federal government.

The first entry provides an overview of the workings of the federal government.

The second entry, "Bureaucratic Politic" , explains how various government agencies and personnel compete with each other. Can the President just give an order and expect it to be carried out? There is also information on each of the cabinet agencies with a chart of its structure for each of them.

XI) STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENT

OBJECTIVE: To teach students about the function of state and local government.

A sub-section gives information on the political structure of individual states.

1) State Government

How is the State government organized?

2) State Legislatures

How are State legislatures organized?

3) Local Governments

What type of local governments exist?

4) County Government

What the functions of County government?

5) Cities

Who creates cities?

6) Functions of City Government

What do city government do?

7) State Information

This section gives information on individual states.

Information on a typical state includes:

CAPITOL: Springfield

ADMITTED TO THE UNION: December 3, 1818

NUMBER OF CONSTITUTIONS: 4

LENGTH OF CONSTITUTION: 13,200 words

NUMBER OF AMENDMENTS: 14

GOVERNOR’S SALARY: $123,032

SENATE MEMBERS: 59

HOUSE MEMBERS: 118

MEMBERS RECEIVE: $47,039 annually.

XII) CIVICS BASICS

OBJECTIVE: To review the answers to basic questions in US Civics (with an emphasis on information required by the National Civics Standards).

This section presents multimedia answers to the following basic questions:

1) What is Civic Life?

2)What is the Purpose of Government?

3) What are the essential characteristics of limited and unlimited government?

4) What are the nature and purposed of the constitution?

5)What the different ways of organizing a constitutional government

6)What are the basics of the American Constitutional System?

7) What is the American Political System?

8) What is the place of law in the American Constitutional system?

9) How does the American political system provide for choice and opportunities

for participation?

10) What is the relationship of the United States to other nations and to

World Affairs?

11) How does the US influence other nations and how have other nations influenced

American politics and society?

12)What is citizenship?

13) What rights do citizens enjoy?

XIII) DOCUMENTS

OBJECTIVE: To use the original Supreme Court decisions to further understand the current interpretation of the Constitution

This section contains full text of 90 important Supreme Court decisions.

Here are a list of them as well as what subjects with which they dealt. In the program they can be accessed either alphabetically or by subject matter. Assign a subject matter and ask students to examine relevant decisions and explain how the law evolved over time.

Adamson v. California (1947)

Does the 14th amendment extend to states?

Adkins v. Children's Hospital of the District of Columbia (1923)

Does the minimum wage law violate the Bill of Rights liberties?

Adler v. Board of Education of City of New York, (1952)

Does Free Speech extend to teachers who are Communists?

American Insurance Company vs. Canter- 1828

Can the United States acquire territory?

Ashwander vs Tennessee Valley Authority (1934)
Bailey v. Drexel Furniture (1922)

Can Congress use tax laws to protect child labor?

Baker v. Carr (1962)

Do Congressional districts need to be of equal size?

Barenblatt v. United States (1959)

Is someone compelled to give evidence against themselves?

Barron Vs Baltimore (1821)

Does the Fifth amendment restriction on taking private property without payment extend to the states?

Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986)

Is the Georgia law against homosexual relations a violations of the privacy rights of an individual?

Brown v. Board of Ed. (1954)

Is "separate but equal", equal?

Buckley v. Valeo (1974)

Does campaign finance laws violate free speech?

Chisholm v. Georgia (1793)
Cooley v Board of Wardens of Port of Philadelphia (1851)

Could Freedom of Speech be abridged by the Smith Act?

Dennis v. United States (1951)

Dredd Scott v. Sanford- (1857)

Can a slave be taken from a slave to free state?

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

Does School prayer violate the establishment the separation of state and religion?

Escobedo v. Illinois (1966)

Ex Parte Grossman (1966)

Does the President have the power to issue a pardon in a case of contempt of court?

Exparte Milligan (1866)

Can a Civilian be tried in a military court?

Fletcher v. Peck

Can a State legislature violate the contract clause?

Frontier v. Richardson, (1973)

Can the army set a separate standard for dependents for women than those of men?

Furman v. Georgia, (1972)
Gibson vs. Ogden- (1824)

Gideon v. Wainwright, (1963)

Does someone tried in State court have a right to an attorney?

Gitlow v New York, (1925)

Can a State limit free speech?

Gregg v. Georgia, (1976)
Hammer v. Dagenhart, (1918)

Can the Congress limit the transport?

Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States (1964)

Was the Civil Rights Act of 1964 constitutional?

Hirabyshai v. United States (1944)

Did the relocation of the Japanese Americans violate their rights?

Home Building & Loan Assn. v. Blaisdell

Does State law extending a mortgage violate the contracts clause?

Houston Railway v. United States
Humphrey's Executor v. U.S. (1935)

Can the President remove non-executive officers?

Hurtado v. California, (1884)

Does the 14th amendment extend to state actions?

In re Neagle (1890)

Is an executive order without congressional basis valid?

Katzenbach Vs McClung 1965
Kendal v. United States

Must the President pay the amount mandated by Congress?

Korematsu v United States

Is the baring of people based on race from certain areas appropriate use of war powers?

Lemon v. Kurtzman
Lochner v. New York

Does a State law limiting the hours a baker can work violate the contract clause?

Luther v. Borden

Can the Courts Decide what State government is legitimate?

Malloy v. Hogan (1964)

Self Incrimination

Mapp v. Ohio- (1966)

Wire Tapping

Marbury v. Madison

Can the Supreme Court decide if a law passed by the Congress is unconstitutional?

Martin v. Hunter's Lessee
Maxwell v. Dow, (1900)

McCleskey v. Kemp
McCray v. United States

Can tax laws be used in any regulatory way?

Minersville School District v. Board of Education
Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

Must a suspect be appraised of his or her rights?

Missouri vs. Holland (1920)

Can the Congress enact laws based on treaties beyond its own constitutional powers?

Munn v. Illinois, (1876)
Myers v. United States, (1926)

Is the 1876 act requiring the Senate concurrence with the removal of postmaster constitutional?

N.A.A.C.P. vs. Alabama (1958)
New York Times v Sullivan (1957)
New York Times v United States (1971)
NLRB vs. Jones and Laughlin Steel (1937)
Norris v. Alabama, (1935)

Is a jury where blacks are excluded a violation?

Olmstead v. United States (1924)

Wiretapping

Palko v. Connecticut

Double Jeopardy

Plessy vs. Ferguson- 1896

Is "separate but equal" equal?

Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Company (Rehearing), (1906)

Is an income tax a direct tax that must be apportioned among the states?

Powell v. Alabama, (1932)

Does the accused have the right to an attorney in all cases?

Prize Cases 1862
Regents of University of Calif v. Baake 1978
Reynolds v. Sims, (1964)
Roe vs. Wade 1973

Does a woman have a right to an abortion?

Roth v. United States

Obscenity

Schenck v. United States

Should freedom of speech exist during war?

Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948)
Slaughterhouse Cases, (1872)

Did the 15^th amendment expand the protection of the Bill of Rights to State actions?

Smith v. Allwright
Southern Pacific vs Arizona
Swann v. Charlotte, Mecklenburg Board of Education, (1971)

Is busing constitutional?

Sweatt v. Painter, (1950)
Trustees Of Dartmouth College vs. Woodward (1819)

Twining v. State, (1908)

Self-incrimination

United States v. Butler (1908)
United States v. Darby (1941)

Minimum wage

United States v. Eichman

Flag burning

United States v. Nixon 1974

United States vs. Curtis Wright (1936)

Can the Congress delegate foreign policy decisions to the President?

Watkins v. United States, (1957)

West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, (1943)

Must a Jehovah's Witness salute the flag in school?

Wiener v. United States, (1958)

Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. vs. Sawyer (1952)

Zorach v. Clauson (1952)

IN SUMMARY

A multimedia resource is an ideal tool for teaching civics. This platform affords educators the possibility of illustrating to students how their government works. A multimedia approach in and of itself demonstrates the benefits of seeking different ways of looking at a given issue or challenge. As computers have become such an essential tool for today’s workplace, it is essential to creative venues within which students can become fluent in not only the use, but to learn to harness this powerful tool.