What's New
The Bill of Rights Institute’s Brand New Classroom Resource, Property Rights In America: Yours, Mine, or Ours? Is Now Available!
Thank you to everyone who downloaded their free copy of the Property Rights in America: Yours, Mine, or Ours? curriculum. The curriculum is now available for purchase in our online catalog.
This 40-page book provides you with a week of lesson plans to educate students about the foundations and on-going importance of property rights. The Property Rights in America booklet will help your students understand some of the rights that serve as the foundation of so many other rights enjoyed by Americans.
This engaging and educational curriculum will inspire your students to:
- Evaluate the importance of private property in a free and prosperous society.
- Understand the Fifth Amendment’s protection of private property.
- Explore the implications of the “tragedy of the commons.”
- Understand the facts of major US Supreme Court cases involving property rights.
- Evaluate current challenges to intellectual property including YouTube; the “Harry Potter Lexicon” copyright case, and Web sites such as Turnitin.com.
You can also order a hard copy of the brand new curriculum by visiting our Online Catalog today!
Do you know your Constitution? Quiz
Do you think you know the Constitution? Find out with this 20 question quiz written to test your students' knowledge of our nation's Constitution. Students can keep track of their score and even print the quiz to show everyone how well they've done.
Click here to take the quiz now!
Lesson Plans
- Rights of the Accused - From our Landmark Supreme Court Cases DBQs: Exploring the Cases that Changed History curriculum, read this essay about criminal procedure rights written by noted scholar Dr. Dennis Goldford of Drake University. (203 kb, pdf format)
- Is the Bill of Rights really a bill of rights? - Visit our Student Website at www.doyouhavetheright.org and read about the Bill of Rights.
- Middle School Lesson on the Bill of Rights - A lesson from the Being an American: Exploring the Ideals that Unite Us curriculum, designed to teach middle school students about the Bill of Rights. (363 kb, pdf format)
get the answer key here
- High School Lesson on the Bill of Rights - A lesson designed to teach high school students about the Bill of Rights. (363 kb, pdf format)
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Additional Resources
- Founders Online - Visit our section dedicated to the words and ideas of twelve Founders
- Read about Life Without the Bill of Rights, from The Bill of Rights and You: Rights and Responsibilities
- Order a copy of our pocket-sized Bill of Rights
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Visit our Student Website - doyouhavetheright.org featuring Bill of Rights Day as our December theme
(starting December 1, 2008)
Some links require adobe acrobat.
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Did You Know?
The Bill of Rights was ratified December 15, 1791.
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Congress adopted twelve amendments, of which only ten were ratified by the states by 1791.
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Over 200 years later, one more of the original twelve, concerning compensation for Congress was ratified on May 7, 1992, becoming the Twenty-Seventh Amendment.
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James Madison wrote the Bill of Rights and was inspired, in part, by the Virginia Declaration of Rights, written by George Mason.
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The Bill of Rights initially applied only to the federal government; however, the Supreme Court, through the Fourteenth Amendment, has incorporated some portions to apply to the states.
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Only 17 amendments have been ratified since the adoption of the Bill of Rights.
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Additional Bill of Rights Day Resources
The Bill of Rights Institute's Founding Documents Teacher Resources
15 hand-selected resources about all the Founding documents, including the Bill of Rights
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Gunston Hall Plantation
Learn more about the home of George Mason, the author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights
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James Madison's Montpelier
Learn more about the home of James Madison, the "Father of the Constitution" and author of the Bill of Rights
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For more free resources, click on a link below:
eLessons | Constitution Day | Founding Documents
Founders Online | Landmark Supreme Court Cases | Links