The Bill of RightsFirst Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.Ensures: Freedom of religion, speech, the press, peaceable assembly, and petitionSecond Amendment: A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.Ensures: The right to keep and bear armsThird…

Checks and BalancesExecutive Branchcan veto lawscan call special sessions of Congresscontrols enforcement of lawsnominates judgescan pardon people convicted of federal crimesLegislative Branchcan impeach president and other high officialsSenate approves Presidential appointmentsSenate approves treatiescan override presidential vetoesexercises power of the purseJudicial Branch can declare laws or presidential actions unconstitutionallifetime appointments

Sid Lapidus Collection: Liberty and the American Revolution Introduction The campaign to end slavery was a prolonged struggle. In England and in America in the eighteenth century, some authors such as Daniel Defoe and Samuel Johnson in England depicted slavery as ugly and immoral. In the 1750s, Quaker groups in the colonies began taking public positions against slavery, yet they remained a minority as few colonists spoke out against slavery on religious grounds. In 1776 most white Americans either accepted slavery or actually owned slaves, while others participated in the slave trade…

Sid Lapidus Collection: Liberty and the American RevolutionBy 1776, Thomas Paine had become the most influential writer defending the break from Great Britain. Born in England, Paine arrived in the colonies in 1774, at age 34. His pamphlet Common Sense was published January 1776 and sold more than 150,000 copies. Paine summarized the case for separating from Great Britain, attacking hereditary privilege, and his direct argument and plain language resonated with ordinary people. This excerpt from Paine’s The American Crisis is the first of a series of articles printed in the Pennsylvania…

The following charts are presented in the book The Ku Klux Klan in the City, 1915–1930 by Kenneth T. Jackson. The first chart represents the states with the highest recorded membership in the Klan during this time period. The approximate numbers are based on the estimates of former members, media reporters, and Klan documents. The second two charts provide a comparison between Klan members’ occupations in Winchester, IL, and Chicago, IL, during the years 1922–1923. This information comes from publication of Klan membership in an anti-Klan newspaper in Chicago called Tolerance. This information…

Introduction The Electoral College consists of 538 electors, who are representatives typically chosen by the candidate’s political party, though some state laws differ. Each state’s number of electors is based on its congressional delegation (one for each member in the House of Representatives and one for each member in the Senate). Currently, a total of 270 electoral votes is required to win the presidency. Before the 1804 election the first runner-up became vice president, as spelled out in the US Constitution. As a result of the Election of 1800, the method of electing the vice president…

Click here to learn more about the New England Colonies.Click here to learn more about the Middle Colonies.Click here to learn more about the Southern Colonies.