Constitutional Foundations and Principles of Government
Below you will find C-SPAN Classroom resources relating to the topics and categories listed above. Click on each title to expand the section and view the featured resources.
The Constitution and Constitutional Foundations
Make the U.S. Constitution come alive with video clips from C-SPAN's Video Library of the Constitution in action.
Constitution Clip Companion Resources
Handout: Constitution Clips Analysis (Google Doc)
Lesson: Constitution Scavenger Hunt (Constitution Clip Activity)
Introduction to the Constitution
On This Day: Constitution Day (5 Clips)
Video Clip: How to Read the Constitution (2:39)
Lesson Plan: Constitution Scavenger Hunt (1 Clip with activities)
Lesson Plan: The Purposes of Government (5 Clips)
Lesson Plan: Enumerated and Implied Powers of Congress (1 Clips)
Lesson Plan: The Bill of Rights in Modern Times (2 Clips)
Lesson: The Bill of Rights Choice Board (Constitution Clip Activity)
Bell Ringer: Justice Elena Kagan on Constitutional Interpretation (4:45)
Bell Ringer: Direct Democracy, Populism and the Constitution (1:53)
Bell Ringer: The Writ of Habeas Corpus and the Constitution (2 Clips)
Bell Ringer: The Bill of Rights (7:11
Lesson Plan: How Should the Constitution be Interpreted? (6 Clips)
The Creation of the Constitution
Lesson Plan: Choice Board: Our Founding Documents (7 Clips)
Lesson Plan: Constitutional Debate Choice Board- George Mason v. James Madison (10 Clips)
Lesson Plan: The Influence of the Declaration of Independence on the Constitution (6 Clips)
Lesson Plan: The Constitutional Convention (8 Clips)
Lesson Plan: Predecessors to the Bill of Rights (6 Clips)
Lesson Plan: Thomas Paine and Common Sense (1:37)
Lesson Plan: The Federalist Papers (3 Clips)
Lesson Plan: Federalist 10 (3 Clips)
Lesson Plan: Federalist 51 (6 Clips)
Lesson Plan: Federalist 70 (2 Clips)
Lesson Plan: Federalist 78 (1 Clip)
Video Clip: Judge Kavanaugh on the Federalist Papers (2:45)
Video Clip: The Great Compromise (3:01)
Video Clip: Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution (:42)
Bell Ringer: The Mayflower Compact (3:18)
Bell Ringer: The Articles of Confederation: Overview and Power (3:01)
Bell Ringer: The Articles of Confederation and Foreign Policy (3:37)
Bell Ringer: Benjamin Franklin: His Ideas and Contributions (16:12)
Bell Ringer: We the People (1:50)
Bell Ringer: Philosopher John Locke (3:38)
Bell Ringer: Philosopher David Hume (4:23)
Bell Ringer: Adam Smith and the Wealth of Nations (2:28)
Bell Ringer: Montesquieu (4:17)
Bell Ringer: Philosophers Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine (2:59)
Bell Ringer: Thomas Paine's Common Sense (4:10)
Bell Ringer: The Struggle between Individual Liberty and the Common Good (5:21)
Bell Ringer: The Constitutional Convention (4:57)
Bell Ringer: The Federalist Papers (6:04)
Bell Ringer: George Mason and the Bill of Rights (4:16)
Principles of Democracy
Lesson Plan: Introduction to the Principles of Democracy (7 Clips)
Bell Ringer: Principles and Foundations of the U.S. Government (2:05)
Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances
Lesson Plan: Checks and Balances (10 Clips)
Lesson Plan: Presidential Pardons (11 Clips)
Lesson Plan: Congress' Power of Impeachment (9 Clips)
Lesson Plan: Congressional Oversight of the Executive Branch (7 Clips)
Lesson Plan: The Use of Presidential Vetoes and Veto Threats (8 Clips)
Bell Ringer: The Constitutional Foundation for Presidential Appointments (5:22)
Bell Ringer: The Senate's Power to Ratify Treaties (5:27)
Bell Ringer: Supreme Court Nomination Process (3:27)
Bell Ringer: Judicial Review and Federalist 78 (4:36)
Lesson Plan: Marbury v. Madison (4 Clips)
Lesson: Policymaking and the Three Branches of Government (4 Clips)
Video Clip: Separation of Powers and the Constitution (4:30)
Video Clip: Separation of Powers and the Rule of Law (2:23)
Bell Ringer: Separation of Powers and Individual Liberties (3:19)
Bell Ringer: Limited Government- Federalism and Separation of Powers (2:02)
Federalism
Constitutional Foundations of Federalism
Lesson Plan: Federalism in the United States (8 Clips)
Lesson Plan: McCulloch v. Maryland (5 Clips)
Bell Ringer: The Benefits of Federalist Systems of Government (4:52)
Bell Ringer: Federalism and Separation of Powers (2:15)
Bell Ringer: The Role of State and Local Governments (6:09)
Bell Ringer: The History of States' Rights (4:20)
Bell Ringer: Constitutional Questions of States' Rights (5:06)
Bell Ringer: Federalism and the 10th Amendment (3:54)
Bell Ringer: The Necessary and Proper Clause (2 Clips)
Bell Ringer: The Supremacy Clause (2 Clips)
Bell Ringer: The 14th Amendment and Incorporation (2:05)
Bell Ringer: Dual Federalism (2:15)
Bell Ringer: Concurrent Powers (2 Clips)
Bell Ringer: Full Faith and Credit (2 Clips)
Examples of Federalism
Lesson Plan: Formation of State Constitutions (9 Clips)
Lesson: The Role of the Federal Government in Education (6 Clips)
Lesson: The Redistricting Process: How States Draw District Maps (7 Clips)
Lesson: Compensating College Athletes for their Name, Image and Likeness (11 Clips)
Deliberation : Should the federal government decriminalize marijuana? (10 Clips)
Deliberation: Should the federal minimum wage be raised? (13 Clips)
Deliberation: How can the government better respond to natural disasters? (14 Clips)
Lesson Plan: Voting and the Effects of Shelby County v. Holder (8 Clips)
Deliberation: Should the federal government bail out state and local governments facing budget shortfalls? (9 Clips)
Deliberation: Should the government provide free college for students? (10 Clips)
Bell Ringer: The Role of the Federal Government in Elections (5:44)
Bell Ringer: The Constitutional Foundation for State Voting Laws (2:41)
Bell Ringer: Federalism and the Every Student Succeeds Act (2:23)
Individual Rights, Equal Protection and the Rule of Law
Lesson Plan: 1st Amendment Freedoms Choice Board (Clips and Activities)
Lesson Plan: The Expansion of Voting in the United States (10 Clips)
Bell Ringer: Police Raid of a Kansas Paper and Concerns over Press Freedom (7:41)
Lesson Plan: The Rule of Law in the United States (6 Clips)
Bell Ringer: Ensuring the Rule of Law (3:46)
Bell Ringer: Criminal Prosecution and the Rule of Law (3:31)
Bell Ringer: Rule of Law, Equal Protection and Rights (2:40)
Bell Ringer: Supreme Court Justices on the Rule of Law (8:14)
Bell Ringer: Justice Ginsburg and the Expansion of Equal Protection (1:44)
Bell Ringer: Citizenship Before the 14th Amendment (8:06)
Bell Ringer: The 14th Amendment and State Action Doctrine (3:09)
Bell Ringer: Interpretation of the 14th Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause (3:07)
Bell Ringer: The Significance of the 14th Amendment and Equal Protection Clause (3:01)
Bell Ringer: The U.S. Constitution and the Prevention of Tyranny (2:40)
Lesson Plan: Students' Rights (7 Clips)
Bell Ringer: Minority Rights & Majority Rule (8:42)
Lesson Plan: Senate Debate Analysis- Due Process Rights (3 Clips)
Bell Ringer: Due Process Protections and Imprisonment (3:18)
Lesson Plan: Rights of the Accused (3:34)
Bell Ringer: State Department Human Rights Report (2 Clips)
Bell Ringer: Freedom in the 50 States (2 Clips)