Voting in America

We The People…
An Exercise in Democracy

America has long prided itself on being a democracy guided by the rule of law. This emphasis on being a democracy governed by the “rule of law” has long been foundational to the notion that this country is and always has been based on equality giving all people the same rights. This project is designed to examine one aspect of this impression: Voting. Students need to research each of the legal actions below - a progression of actions in the history of the United States. Make sure you include statements about all of the significant elements of these actions, what each part did to or for people’s rights, why this action was justified or needed, how people reacted to it/what problems remained unresolved after the passage of the action.

We will be in the Media Lab 3 days. Students may work individually or in groups of up to three. No further class-time will be provided to complete this assignment.

Research/study/learn the following items:

Preamble to the Constitution
The Dred Scott Decision
14th Amendment
15th Amendment
17th Amendment
19th Amendment
Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
24th Amendment
26th Amendment

In groups students need to:
•Research and describe each item including all of the significant elements of these actions, what each part did to or for people’s rights, why this action was justified or needed, how people reacted to it/what problems remained unresolved after the passage of the action.

Individually students need to:
•Create a time-line that includes all of these events. Make sure that it is accurate and neat and with the events placed on the timeline correctly.
•Write a paragraph that compares/juxtaposes the timeline of these events with the first three words of the Preamble to the US Constitution.
•The first sentence of your essay must be the topic sentence for your paragraph.
•Instead of an essay, students may create a cartoon that captures your thoughts on this theme – you must include a caption for the cartoon that helps explain things.