Materials
Constitution Day Materials
Monday, September 17, 2007 celebrates the 220th anniversary of the signing of the US Constitution. History teachers can use a variety of techniques to help celebrate this day in their classrooms. One method, that of comparing and contrasting the US Constitution to other constitutions, allows students to better understand both the grounding principles of the Constitution, and the historical circumstances of the world in which it was created.
During Our Place in History's first Summer Academy, we looked at how Native Americans are represented in history teaching. To continue this study, the grant provided copies of both the US Constitution and the Constitution of the Iroquois Nations for our celebration of Constitution Day. If you do not have these materials, you can find online transcriptions of the US Constitution from the National Archives and of the Iroquois Constitution from the Electronic Text Center at the University of Virginia Library. Although historians continue to debate the influence of the Iroquois Constitution in the creation of the US Constitution, the Iroquois Constitution does illustrate another example of representative government and the complexities of Native American cultures in the late eighteenth century.
Several online lessons explore the relationship between these documents through example classroom activities:
Robert and Kathleen Millward's lesson "No Real Nations" uses the US Constitution and the Iroquois Constitution to debunk the myth that Native Americans were not united into complex social and governmental networks. This lesson is a part of the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center's website Worlds in Motion: American Indians on the Colonial Frontier , a collection of educational materials created for the 250th anniversary of the French and Indian War Clash of Empires exhibition.
Students examine vocabulary in both constitutions, as a part of Utah LessonPlans' "US and Iroquois Constitution Parallels," and explore the meaning these words have in our understanding of government.
The role of leadership in creating successful societies is the central question in Kristine Grunwald's "How Do Societies Ensure Leadership Takes Place?" This lesson relies on the text of the US Constitution, the Constitution of the Iroquois Nations, and the Northwest Ordinance, as well as the students' own knowledge of leadership in their community, to discuss democratic principles.
Additionally, you can enhance many lessons, which study the text and meaning of the US Constitution, to include a comparison of the Constitution of the Iroquois Nations.
