"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." This famous sentence is known as the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution. Learn more at the following sites.
Published for grades four through twelve by The Dirksen Congressional Center, Congress for Kids tells the story of the Constitution starting with the Constitutional Convention of 1787. "It includes information about the writing the Constitution, the Great Compromise, the Constitution's signers, the Bill of Rights, the Amendments to the Constitution and what they mean to Americans, and much more." In addition to the illustrated lessons, each section includes a related quiz or a game.
Based on Linda R. Monk's book "The Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution", the Interactive Constitution offers four unique views of the iconic document. First, an annotated Constitution is organized into articles and amendments. Next is three search functions: keyword search, topic search and court case search. For example, in court case search, "Brown v. Board of Education" returns Article III, Amendment X, and Amendment XIV. Fascinating stuff.
This illustrated history of the Constitution by Roger A. Bruns is available in web and print versions. "May 25, 1787. Freshly spread dirt covered the cobblestone street in front of the Pennsylvania State House, protecting the men inside from the sound of passing carriages and carts. Guards stood at the entrances to ensure that the curious were kept at a distance. Robert Morris of Pennsylvania, the financier' of the Revolution, opened the proceedings with a nomination -- Gen. George Washington for the presidency of the Constitutional Convention."
"The Constitution says how the government works. It creates the President. It creates the Congress. It creates the Supreme Court." Steve Mount's U.S. Constitution Online organizes Constitution for Kids into three grade-levels. This link takes you to the page for kindergarten through third grade. At the top of this page, you'll find the links to the fourth through seventh grade, and eighth through twelfth grade sites. Highlights include grade-appropriate overviews of the Constitution, coloring pages, and pictures of the Constitution.
"Instead of amending or changing the Articles of Confederation, the fifty-five delegates to the Constitutional Convention rewrote the Articles and created a new Constitution." Best clicks at the WhiteHouse.gov Constitution site are the ten-question quiz, printable word scramble, and the pages listed under Facts. The Facts pages include a hyperlinked transcript of the original Constitution and a transcript of the Bill of Rights.
Buy U.S. Constitution Printable for $2.00
or try a FREE trial of the Printables ClubThe following links are either new discoveries or sites that didn't make it into my newspaper column because of space constraints. Enjoy!
Archiving Early America: The ConstitutionLibrary of Congress: Documents from the Continental Congress | NEH: Constitution DayOur Documents: Constitution of the United States |
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