The History of American Government

John Adams once said, "Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom." This is a quote that comes to mind when thinking about teaching our children the history of American government. Our founding fathers established a new form of government, completely unlike that of England. By gaining an understanding of the principles on which our government was created, we can help our kids understand how our government works. Here are some ideas for questions to ask and activities to try to get you started.

• The Declaration of Independence. Why did our Founding Fathers write the Declaration of Independence? What does it signify? Have your kids think about their school or family's way of government and what things they would change. Then have them come up with their own Declaration of Independence.
• The Constitution. What is a constitution? Explain that the Constitution contains the rules that govern our nation, and also protects the rights of the people of our nation. Why do we need rules? Ask your students to imagine what it would be like to live in a society without rules.
• Checks and balances. Why is our government divided into three branches? Discuss the powers held by the Legislative, Executive and Judicial Branches of our government. How do we keep the balance of power among these three branches? Create a chart together, to help students visualize how the system of checks and balances works. For older children, you can introduce the concept of the news media as the Fourth Estate of our government, working to keep people informed of our government's decisions and to act as a sounding board for the people.
• Voting. Why do we vote? Ask your students if they think voting is a fair way to make decisions for a group. Why or why not? Demonstrate the effectiveness of voting by hosting a mock election, complete with ballot questions. Analyze the results together.
• Changing government for changing times. Ask your students why we have, over time, made amendments to our constitution. Why are such amendments necessary? Ask your students to consider how different their life would be if these amendments had not been made. What would life be like without the First Amendment allowing freedom of religion, speech and assembly, the 13^th Amendment abolishing slavery and the 19^th Amendment granting women the right to vote?

For more ideas for teaching the history of American government, check out these sites:

http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org

http://www.besthistorysites.net/USHistory_Government.shtml

http://www.ushistorysite.com

http://www.civiced.org/index.php?page=lesson_plans