Origins of the Constitution Research Project
Project Objective: Students will explain how the Philosophy of the
Ancient World, English Political Tradition, and the ideas of the
Enlightenment Philosophers have contributed to the development of the
US Constitution and Democracy in America with a PowerPoint, Comic or
Skit/Movie.

Academic Skills Objective:  Group work skills, brainstorming research
terms, keeping a research log, summarizing information, writing clear
conclusions, project planning and using a calendar, creating a project of
many parts that all fit together, public speaking and presentation, and
doing both self and peer assessments.

Technical Skills Objective:  Using E-mail, Google Docs, PowerPoint
Presentation, Comic Life, Movie editing software like Microsoft Movie
Maker, Microsoft word.
Project Links:

Research Pages:
State Standards:

The following State Standards are covered by this project:

California World History Standards:

10.1 Students relate the moral and ethical principles in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, in
Judaism, and in Christianity to the development of Western political thought.

    1. Analyze the similarities and differences in Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman views of law, reason and
    faith, and duties of the individual.

    2. Trace the development of the Western political ideas of the rule of law and illegitimacy of tyranny, using
    selections from Plato's Republic and Aristotle's Politics.

10.2 Students compare and contrast the Glorious Revolution of England, the American Revolution, and
the French Revolution and their enduring effects worldwide on the political expectations for self-
government and individual liberty.

    1. Compare the major ideas of philosophers and their effects on the democratic revolutions in England, the
    United States, France, and Latin America (e.g., John Locke, Charles-Louis Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques
    Rousseau, Simón Bolívar, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison).

    2. List the principles of the Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights (1689), the American Declaration of
    Independence (1776), the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (1789), and the U.S. Bill
    of Rights (1791).
Project Focus Question:  How have historical
traditions shaped democracy as we see it expressed
in the US Constitution.