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Civil law Civil rights United States Constitutional history United States Constitutional law United States History Criminal law Liberty United States Constitution United States History Revolution, 1775-1783 United States History Study and teaching United States Politics and government 1783-1865Filter By Subjects
Civil law Civil rights United States Constitutional history United States Constitutional law United States History Criminal law Liberty United States Constitution United States History Revolution, 1775-1783 United States History Study and teaching United States Politics and government 1783-1865Summary: September 24th, 1789—the First United States Congress establishes the basic structure of the Federal Judiciary. With this act, the American legal system becomes an entity entwined with our fundamental notions of democracy and fair government, equal in power and authority to the Executive and Legislative branches. This program guides viewers through the history of the Judiciary and illustrates...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Many equate it with the Presidency, but the Executive branch of our government is far more complex than that. Containing departments and agencies that directly affect the health, safety, security, and prosperity of the American public, the Executive branch is an administrative mountain with the White House at its peak. This program expands on that description, familiarizing students with the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Although the office of the President personifies American leadership, the Legislative branch was actually designed to hold at least as much power as the Executive, if not more. Many Founding Fathers envisioned Congress as the primary governing body, given its closeness, politically speaking, to the people. This program examines the origins, history, and activities of the U.S. House of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: A government of the people, by the people, and for the people isn’t possible without the laborious process of nominating and electing candidates, in a manner fair and free to all citizens. How did this process begin and how has it evolved over the course of American history? Does it even remotely resemble—for better or for worse—the manner in which the Founding Fathers gained high office? Using...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Why do written documents figure so prominently in the early history of the United States? There are plenty of explanations, but they all boil down to the philosophical ideas that drove the American colonies to declare their independence—and a profound awareness that those ideas should be inseparable from the rule of law. This program explores the origins, outbreak, and outcome of the American...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Is American citizenship all about personal freedom and the rights of the individual? Or should the concept of the “good citizen” take precedence, underscoring the duties and contributions an individual owes to society? Where does immigration fit in? This program helps students sift through various meanings of American citizenship and the historical forces that have shaped it. With energetic...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: At last, the federal convention has begun! Eleven days late, in the middle of a downpour, a quorum of 29 delegates from seven states are finally getting down to business in Philadelphia… This is the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and Emmy award-winning journalist Bill Moyers is reporting the story. Filmed at Independence Hall and filled with historical images and passages from the diaries,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Ideas, issues, events, and individuals come to life as Emmy award-winning journalist Bill Moyers reports on the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Filmed at Independence Hall and filled with historical images and passages from the diaries, letters, and records of the Framers themselves, this two-part set is an indispensable tool for teaching the Constitution. All 76 clips (2:35 each), culled...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: It upholds freedom of speech and religion, guarantees a free press, grants the right to keep and bear arms, preserves the right of trial by jury, establishes states' rights, and more. It's the Bill of Rights. This program presents the ten key Constitutional amendments that have defined the fundamental liberties that are the American birthright-and examines the controversies and challenges they...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program sets two crucial human rights-related Constitutional amendments within the context of their historical times: Amendment 13, abolishing slavery throughout the U.S., and Amendment 14, defining U.S. citizenship and stipulating due process and equal protection under the law. Four additional amendments-11, judicial powers construed; 16, federal income tax; and 18 and 21, Prohibition and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: The ability to vote-to have a legal say in the affairs of America, large or small-is one of the greatest powers a U.S. citizen can have.and, too often, it's one of the most neglected. This program reemphasizes the value of universal suffrage through the stories of Amendments 15, 19, 23, 24, and 26, which, taken together, enfranchise citizens 18 years of age and older and forbid denying the vote...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program is an indispensable tool for helping students to understand the constitutional amendment process and to see its importance in their own lives. It defines what an amendment is, explains why amendments have been needed down through the centuries, and describes the process for proposing and ratifying an amendment. Amendments used as illustrations of the process of changing the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005