60-Second Civics: Episode 2617, Native American citizenship Throughout most of the first two hundred years of the United States, Native Americans were denied American citizenship.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2616, Native American and citizenship The Framers considered Native Americans to be members of their tribes, not citizens of the United States.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2614, The slow march to woman suffrage Women in the United States gained the right to vote in small increments. Plenty of excuses were offered for not recognizing women's right to vote.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2613, Suffrage for women in the states Even though the federal government was slow to recognize the right of women to vote, states like Wyoming took matters into their own hands.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2612, The long road to equal voting rights for women The road to winning the right to vote for women was long, and suffragists faced many setbacks.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2610, Literacy tests Literacy tests were designed to disenfranchise African American voters. They did not disappear entirely until 1970.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2609, Poll taxes Poll taxes were meant to keep the poor and minorities from voting. The Twenty-Fourth Amendment ended poll taxes in 1964.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2608, Civil Rights Act of 1868 Until discriminatory laws and Supreme Court rulings took effect, millions of African Americans were added to the voting rolls, and some were elected to public office.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2607, Fifteenth Amendment In theory, the Fifteenth Amendment granted the right to vote to African American men. But discriminatory laws kept African Americans from exercising that right.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2606, Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago Mexican American men faced discrimination and violence in Texas when they tried to exercise their right to vote.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2602, Voting and property Thomas Paine, with his characteristically sharp wit, pointing out some problems with the property requirement for voting.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2601, Enfranchisement and disenfranchisement Who was allowed to vote in after the Revolution? It depended on where you lived.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2600, Voting in the colonies What legacy of Greek and Roman democracy did the colonists inherit? Find out on today's episode.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2596, Intermediate scrutiny Today we discuss intermediate scrutiny and how it applies to gender-based distinctions in the law.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2595, Strict scrutiny Strict scrutiny is the highest level of analysis used by the Supreme Court to determine whether equal protection has been violated.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2593, Kenneth and Mamie Clark Kenneth and Mamie Clark's research showed the severe and damaging psychological effects of segregation.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2588, Arbitrary barriers to rights The equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment protects you from arbitrary infringement of your rights.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2587, The equal protection clause Equal protection of the laws is rooted in the Declaration's statement that "all Men are created equal."
60-Second Civics: Episode 2586, Incorporation of criminal procedures Why has the Supreme Court been reluctant to incorporate criminal procedural guarantees? Find out on today's podcast.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2582, Fundamental rights recognized by the courts The states must show they have a compelling interest in order to regulate certain fundamental rights.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2581, The courts and fundamental rights How do the courts deal with issues of fundamental rights? Find out on today's podcast.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2579, Comparing the adversarial and inquisitorial systems Which is better, the adversarial or inquisitorial system of justice? Learn the arguments on today's podcast.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2577, Beyond a reasonable doubt In the American and English systems of justice, criminal defendants do not have to prove their innocence.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2576, Adversarial vs. inquisitorial systems of justice Today we examine the adversarial and inquisitorial systems of justice.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2572, Discriminatory laws Discriminatory laws aimed at reducing the political power of African Americans sowed the seeds of the civil rights movement.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2569, How the country changed after the Civil War The Civil War and the Thirteenth Amendment ended slavery. The war resolved many other issues as well.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2566, Lincoln asserts his authority Lincoln ignored the Supreme Court's ruling on habeas corpus, and Congress backed him up with legislation.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2565, Taney vs. Lincoln The chief justice of the Supreme Court and President Lincoln squared off over Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2564, Too strong or too weak? Abraham Lincoln had to simultaneously exercise and limit his powers during the Civil War to preserve the Union and the Constitution.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2561, Slavery and the Confederate constitution The Confederates wrote a constitution based on the U.S. Constitution, but protected slavery.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2557, Taney and the Dred Scott decision Chief Justice Taney hoped his ruling in Dred Scott would resolve the slavery issue peacefully. It did the opposite.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2556, The reasoning behind the Dred Scott decision In the infamous Supreme Court decision of Dred Scott v. Sandford, the Court held that African Americans were not citizens.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2555, The Dred Scott decision Dred Scott sued for his freedom in a Supreme Court case that inflamed opinions on both sides of the slavery debate.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2554, Free soil and fugitive slaves California was admitted to the Union as a state that banned slavery, but the South got a stronger Fugitive Slave Act in return.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2553, The aftermath of the Mexican-American War How did California's statehood affect slavery in the United States? Find out on today's podcast.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2552, Admitting slave and free states The Missouri Compromise kept the balance between the free and slave states for sixty years.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2550, Slavery in the Constitution The Framers of the Constitution sought to avoid the issue of slavery during the Philadelphia Convention.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2546, Political parties as additional checks and balances Martin Van Buren thought that political parties provided an additional set of checks and balances.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2544, Martin Van Buren on political parties Martin Van Buren and Thomas Jefferson had differing views about the role of political parties.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2542, The Twelfth Amendment The Constitution originally gave the vice presidency to the second-place finisher in a presidential election.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2540, The Alien and Sedition Acts The Alien and Sedition Acts gave the president sweeping powers to act against people he considered enemies.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2538, The Napoleonic Wars divide the nation Hamilton supported Britain; Jefferson supported France. Washington declared American neutrality. Find out on today's episode how the Napoleonic Wars divided the nation.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2537, Differences over economics Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were at odds over the interpretation of the necessary and proper clause.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2536, Concerns over an energetic national government Hamilton and Jefferson disagreed about the power of the national government.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2534, Political parties: good or bad? Edmund Burke thought political parties were useful, but many Americans thought of parties as factions: divisive forces in the country.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2533, Factions in the American colonies There were lots of factions in the American colonies. Today we learn about some of them.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2532, The debate over factions James Madison thought the Constitution would limit the effects of factions; Alexander Hamilton thought factions were an evil to be eliminated from society.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2531, Arguments against judicial review Not everyone agreed with the concept of judicial review. This episodes examines some of their arguments.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2525, Arguments for a bill of rights There were many persuasive arguments for a bill of rights, but adoption of the U.S. Bill of Rights would have to wait until after ratification.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2523, More amendments Did you know that a Supreme Court decision once barred Congress from levying an income tax? It was overturned by the sixteenth amendment.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2522, Fundamental changes The Civil War Amendments and amendments that increased direct participation by citizens fundamentally changed the Constitution.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2521, The Bill of Rights The Bill of Rights was proposed with 12 amendments; only 10 survived to become the Bill of Rights. One of the 12 became the Twenty-seventh Amendment.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2520, Twenty-seven amendments More than 11,000 amendments to the Constitution have been formally proposed, but only 27 have been adopted.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2519, How to amend the Constitution Amendments to the Constitution must be ratified either by state legislatures or special state conventions.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2514, Protections of rights under the Constitution The Federalists fought hard to defend the Constitution against Anti-Federalist criticisms.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2513, Is the Constitution too complicated? Is the government created by the Constitution too complicated to get anything done? Madison argued that it was just complicated enough.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2511, The Constitution would not rely on civic virtue If civic virtue of citizens does not guarantee rights, what will? The Federalists thought they had the answer.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2510, Civic virtue cannot be relied upon Is civic virtue enough to allow a republic to survive? The Federalists said it wasn't.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2509, Survival in a large republic How could democracy survive in a large, diverse nation? James Madison thought he knew the answer.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2507, Republican government in a large and diverse nation Could America do what no large republic had done in history? Federalists thought so.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2140, The Philadelphia Convention, Part 4: Founders who did not attend the Philadelphia Convention Jefferson, Adams, Paine, Henry, and Hancock did not attend the Philadelphia Convention, but for different reasons.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2505, The Federalist The Federalist is considered by historians to be the most important work written to defend the new Constitution.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2504, Federalist strategy Federalist strategy was to hold state ratifying conventions as soon as possible so that Anti-Federalists would not have enough time to organize.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2502, Vague and general powers are dangerous The Anti-Federalists believed that the lack of a bill of rights in the Constitution would results in basic rights of the people being stripped away.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2500, Anti-Federalist criticisms of checks and balances It's our 2,500th episode! Today we learn about some powerful Anti-Federalist critiques of the system of checks and balances.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2499, Anti-Federalist arguments about the presidency and courts The Anti-Federalists argued that both the president and the federal courts would have too much power under the Constitution.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2498, Anti-Federalist arguments about the power of Congress The Anti-Federalists were concerned that the Constitution gave too much power to Congress.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2497, Contributions of the Anti-Federalists Overall, George Washington felt that the Anti-Federalists had contributed to the country.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2496, Robert Yates Robert Yates wrote a series of Anti-Federalist essays explaining why the Constitution would not be the best form of government for the United States.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2494, Benjamin Franklin on the Constitution Benjamin Franklin on the Constitution and the struggle for ratification in Massachusetts, on today's podcast.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2493, A nationwide debate The Federalists and Anti-Federalists engaged in a nationwide debate about ratification of the Constitution.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2490, The ratification process begins The ratification process was consistent with social contract theory and the Declaration of Independence.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2489, We the People The plan for ratification of the Constitution was consistent with the idea of "We the People...do establish and ordain this Constitution."
60-Second Civics: Episode 2488, Ratification James Madison knew that all the states were unlikely to approve the new Constitution, but he thought of an alternative.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2487, Unresolved controversies at the Philadelphia Convention Today we learn about unresolved controversies at the Philadelphia Convention.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2484, A compromise over slavery The fugitive slave clause shows that the Framers intended slavery to be a state institution, and not a permanent one.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2483, The fugitive slave clause The fugitive slave clause shows that the Framers intended slavery to be a state institution, and not a permanent one.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2481, Why the word "slavery" does not appear in the Constitution The Framers were ashamed of slavery, and did not include the word in the Constitution.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2477, Limitations on the power of the national government Today learn about habeas corpus, ex post facto laws, bills of attainder, and more.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2476, Powers of the national government over the states, Part 2 On today's podcast we explore more powers of the national government over the states.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2475, Powers of the national government over the states, Part 2 On today's podcast we explore more powers of the national government over the states.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2472, The power of war One of the most important powers in the Constitution, the power to wage and declare war, is shared by the president and Congress.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2471, The power to appoint executive officials and make treaties Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution lists important powers shared by Congress and the president.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2470, Separated and shared powers The Framers of the Constitution ensured that the branches of government had separated and shared powers.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2469, How judges should be selected Although the Framers agreed that judges should be independent, how judges should be selected was more controversial.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2468, The independence of the judicial branch The Framers of the Constitution took great care to ensure that the judicial branch remained independent.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2467, Agreement over the national judiciary The national judiciary was one area where the Framers of the Constitution substantially agreed.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2464, The Electoral College and the popular vote A presidential candidate can win the popular vote, but still lose the Electoral College vote.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2462, The perils of presidential selection The Framers of the Constitution did not approve direct election, but thought that indirect election was fraught with danger.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2461, How should we elect the president? The Framers of the Constitution were not generally in favor of having the president elected directly by the people.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2460, What kind of presidency should we have? The Framers of the Constitution originally proposed a 7-year term of office for the president.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2459, One chief executive The Framers agreed that it would be better to have one single chief executive rather than multiple executives.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2458, Three questions about the executive branch The Framers of the Constitution had to resolve three key issues about the nature of the executive branch.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2457, Alexander Hamilton on the executive branch Alexander Hamilton described the dilemma of the Framers in creating the office of the president, but James Wilson came to Philadelphia with a plan.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2456, Fear of executive power The Framers feared an executive branch that was too strong, but experience taught them that the executive should not be too weak.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2455, Compromises about the power of Congress The compromise between the Virginia and New Jersey plans sheds some light on the current powers of Congress.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2454, Congress designed to be a deliberative body Congress was not actually designed to pass legislation quickly. Find out why on today's podcast.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2453, Separated institutions sharing powers The Framers created a system that historian Richard Neustadt called "a government of separated institutions sharing powers."
60-Second Civics: Episode 2452, An imbalance of power leads to tyranny The American colonists believed that Parliament had been corrupted by the Crown.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2450, The Three-Fifths Compromise The Three-Fifths Compromise meant that three-fifths of enslaved people would be counted for purposes of representation in Congress, although the word "slaves" was never mentioned.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2449, Controversy over slavery and representation Delegates to the Philadelphia Convention argued about whether slaves were equal to free men for purposes of representation.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2448, How should representation be decided? The delegates to the Philadelphia Convention debated whether slaves should be counted for purposes of representation.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2444, Hamilton's plan fails Alexander Hamilton's plan for national government never gained any traction at the Philadelphia Convention.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2443, Alexander Hamilton's New York Plan Alexander Hamilton's plan for a national government featured a strong executive and weak states.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2442, The executive and judicial branches under the New Jersey Plan The New Jersey Plan featured an odd executive branch composed of several people appointed by Congress.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2440, Disagreement over representation in the Senate Debate raged at the Philadelphia Convention over proportional versus equal representation in the Senate.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2438, Proportional vs. equal representation The controversial idea of the Virginia Plan was that representation in the House and Senate should be based on population.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2437, The Pinckney Plan Today we learn about a little-known plan for government that was only rediscovered in the twentieth century.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2436, Congressional power under the Virginia Plan Congress would be much more powerful under the Virginia Plan than under the Articles of Confederation.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2433, Madison does his homework James Madison we extremely well-prepared for the Philadelphia Convention. He isn't called the "Father of the Constitution" for nothing.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2432, The benefits of the Philadelphia Convention's rules The rules of the Philadelphia Convention had a purpose: to promote civil discourse.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2431, Secrecy at the Philadelphia Convention If it weren't for James Madison, we might not know the details of what happened at the Philadelphia Convention.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2430, Rules for the Philadelphia Convention There were many rules governing the Philadelphia Convention; most were for the sake of promoting civil discourse.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2429, Who did not attend the Philadelphia Convention? Jefferson, Adams, and Patrick Henry did not attend the Philadelphia Convention, but for different reasons.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2428, Roger Sherman at the Philadelphia Convention Roger Sherman attended nearly every session of the Philadelphia Convention and was instrumental in creating the Connecticut Compromise.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2427, Edmund Randolph at the Philadelphia Convention Edmund Randolph refused to sign the Constitution, but later campaigned for its ratification.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2425, James Wilson at the Philadelphia Convention James Wilson was born in Scotland. He was active in the Revolution, and led the ratification effort in Pennsylvania.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2424, Alexander Hamilton at the Philadelphia Convention Alexander Hamilton was outvoted by his fellow New Yorkers, but he campaigned hard for the Constitution.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2423, Benjamin Franklin at the Philadelphia Convention Benjamin Franklin was 81 and in poor health at the Philadelphia Convention, but rarely missed a meeting.
60-Second Civics: Episode 2422, James Madison at the Philadelphia Convention Today we learn about James Madison, the brilliant and versatile "father of the Constitution."
60-Second Civics: Episode 2421, George Washington at the Philadelphia Convention George Washington was so respected that he was unanimously elected president of the Philadelphia Convention.
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This site is brought to you by the Center for Civic Education. The Center's mission is to promote an enlightened and responsible citizenry committed to democratic principles and actively engaged in the practice of democracy. The Center has reached more than 30 million students and their teachers since 1965. Learn more.
