In this activity, students will explore the struggle for universal suffrage long after both men and women constitutionally had the right to vote. Following a progressive timeline, primary sources highlight voting problems which arose for minority groups throughout the 20th century. Students will answer questions as they work through the documents to reflect on if and when universal suffrage was ultimately achieved.

Photo of a Aerial view of a complex of Long Island highways that provide access to New York City (1946)

In this activity, students will focus on a letter written to Congress about Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama. Students will see that, due to television coverage, the author, Mrs. Jackson, was very aware of the events that day even though she was in a different part of the country: Brooklyn, New York. Students will also look at the author's tone and word choice to discern the kinds of images shown on television.

In this activity students will identify and define seven key ideas contained in the U.S. Constitution by making matches from the grid. They will then analyze documents that demonstrate each big idea in action.

This activity is designed to prepare students for the Constitution-in-Action Learning Lab at the National Archives in Washington, DC. It is a part of a package of pre-visit activities associated with the lab experience.

In this activity students will analyze documents that span the course of American history to see examples of "checks and balances" between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches in action. Students will then match the documents they have examined with an appropriate description of the branches of government involved in the action.

In this activity students will analyze the Senate Journal of the First Congress and identify how the document demonstrates content contained within Article II of the Constitution in action.

This activity is designed to prepare students for the Constitution-in-Action Lab at the National Archives in Washington, DC. It is a part of a package of activities associated with the lab experience.

In this activity students will analyze the Oaths of Senators for the Impeachment Trial of William Jefferson Clinton and identify how the document demonstrates content contained within Article I, sections 1-7 of the Constitution in action.

This activity is designed to prepare students for the Constitution-in-Action Lab at the National Archives in Washington, DC. It is a part of a package of activities associated with the lab experience.

In this activity students will analyze the Declaration of Intention for Albert Einstein and identify how the document demonstrates content contained within Article I, sections 8-10 of the Constitution in action.

This activity is designed to prepare students for the Constitution-in-Action Lab at the National Archives in Washington, DC. It is a part of a package of activities associated with the lab experience.

This document was identified by teachers in our Primarily Teaching 2016 Summer Workshop at the Truman Library.

This document is an order to show cause in the Marbury v. Madison Supreme Court case. An order to show cause explains that a defendant is expected to appear before the judge and defend his or her actions. The document shows damage from the 1898 fire in the Capitol Building.

On February 14, 1818, David Gordon received a patent for his raft design. When a patent is granted, it excludes others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention. This drawing accompanied Gordon’s application.

The Eighth Avenue trolley, New York City, sharing the street with horse-drawn produce wagon and an open automobile. Downtown, looking north (1904)

This lesson leads students through analyzing primary source documents from the Civil War to determine if the Freedman's Bureaus was effective in assisting formerly enslaved persons.

In this activity, students will analyze documents from the War Department’s Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands — better known as the Freedmen’s Bureau — that Congress established on March 3, 1865, as the Civil War was coming to an end. Using the scale in Weighing the Evidence, students will evaluate the effectiveness of the Freedmen's Bureau in assisting formerly enslaved persons.

In this activity, students will examine documents from the FBI case file about Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama. They will answer questions to show understanding of the events that took place, and how the spread of information about Selma impacted the Civil Rights Movement. They will also be asked to think about whether the Federal Government would have acted differently if the FBI knew that the public may be able to see their files — the Government was not required to release records like this until the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) gave the public the right to request Federal agency records in 1966.

On May 17, 1954, in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (five separate cases consolidated under a single name), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that separate but equal public schools violated the 14th Amendment.

In this ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court stated that slaves were not citizens of the United States and, therefore, could not expect any protection from the Federal Government or the courts. The opinion also stated that Congress had no authority to ban slavery from a Federal territory.

This photograph of a sculpture of Mary McLeod Bethune by Selma Hortense Burke is part of Harmon Foundation Collection. The Harmon Foundation, a nonprofit, private foundation active from 1922 to 1967, helped foster an awareness of African art. African artists would send their artworks to the United States for exhibit and sale. When the foundation ended its activities in 1967, it donated its entire collection of motion pictures, filmstrips, color slides, and black and white prints and negatives on a variety of subjects to the National Archives. Selma Hortense Burke (b. December 31, 1900, Mooresville, North Carolina - d. August 29, 1995, New Hope, Pennsylvania) was an American sculptor, educator, and member of the Harlem Renaissance movement. Burke created many pieces of public art, often portraits of prominent African-American figures like Duke Ellington, Mary McLeod Bethune and Booker T. Washington. She received national recognition for her relief portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, which was the model for his image on the dime. In 1979, Burke was awarded the Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award.Learn more on our main National Archives website.