This full year syllabus is intended for high school students to complete a civics requirement for graduation, and for any adult who wishes to repair a civics deficiency in their own educations. It requires an introductory understanding of American history as a prerequisite (I recommend The Story of the Thirteen Colonies and The Story of the Great Republic). Hillsdale College is the premier American University teaching Constitutional theory as the Framers envisioned it. All of their online coursework is free to the general public.
To utilize this course of study for each mini course: View the lecture, while taking notes, on the first day, completing the supplemental reading on the second day. (The supplemental readings are in American history and Western Civilization political philosophy, from which the Framers drew, and are available free of charge at The U.S. Constitution: A Reader.) Go on to the next lecture in the series, allowing two days per each lecture and its supplemental reading. When all the lectures and readings have been completed for the course, then take the final quiz. Repeat for each mini course.
Completing all eight mini courses according to the above scheme requires 178 study days, or one school year, for 2 semester credits of Civics and American history. Upon completion of this course the student will have a greater depth of understanding of American government and history than most college graduates.
Introduction to the Constitution
The American Founders believed that the principles of the Declaration and the Constitution were not simply preferences for their own day, but were truths that the sovereign and moral people of America could always rely on as guides in their pursuit of happiness. This course considers the principles of the American Founding—which are described most famously and concisely in the Declaration of Independence—as well as key features of American government based on those principles.
This mini course consists of twelve lectures of about 15 minutes each, supplemental readings in American history and political philosophy, and a final quiz. This course requires 25 study days to complete.
Constitution 101: The Meaning and History of the Constitution
This course will introduce you to the meaning and history of the United States Constitution. The course will examine a number of original source documents from the Founding period, including especially the Declaration of Independence and The Federalist Papers. The course will also consider two significant challenges to the Founders’ Constitution: the institution of slavery and the rise of Progressivism.
This mini course consists of ten lectures of about 30 to 45 minutes each, supplemental readings in American history and political philosophy, and a final quiz. Allow 21 study days to complete.
Written between October 1787 and August 1788, The Federalist Papers is a collection of newspaper essays written in defense of the Constitution. Writing under the pen name Publius, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay explain the merits of the proposed Constitution, while confronting objections raised by its opponents. Thomas Jefferson described the work as “the best commentary on the principles of government, which ever was written.” This course will explore major themes of The Federalist Papers, such as the problem of majority faction, separation of powers, and the three branches of government.
This mini course consists of ten lectures of about 30 to 40 minutes each, supplemental readings in American history and political philosophy, and a final quiz. Allow 21 study days to complete.
Congress: How it Worked and Why it Doesn’t
The Framers of the Constitution institutionalized the legislative power in Article I, which grants limited powers to a bicameral Congress, with the aim of securing the rights of American citizens. In the early 20th century, Progressives introduced new conceptions of Congress and the legislative power, which resulted in a massive and ongoing transfer of legislative authority to unaccountable bureaucratic agencies. This course explores the Founders’ understanding of the legislative power and how Congress should work, the Progressive rejection of that understanding, and how that rejection has affected American politics.
This mini course consists of eleven lectures of about 30 minutes each, supplemental readings in American history and political philosophy, and a final quiz. Allow 23 study days to complete.
The Presidency and the Constitution
This course will help you understand the structure and function of executive power in the American constitutional order. The course begins with the place of the president in the constitutionalism of the Founding Fathers and examines how that role has changed with the rise of the modern Progressive administrative state.
This mini course consists of ten lectures of about 30 to 40 minutes each, supplemental readings in American history and political philosophy, and a final quiz. Allow 21 study days to complete.
Article III of the U.S. Constitution vests the judicial power “in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” According to Federalist 78, the judicial branch “will always be the least dangerous” to the liberty of the American people. Yet, judicial decisions have done much to advance a Progressive agenda that poses a fundamental threat to liberty.
This mini course consists of ten lectures of about 30 to 40 minutes each, supplemental readings in American history and political philosophy, and a final quiz. Allow 21 study days to complete.
Constitution 201: The Progressive Rejection of the Founding and the Rise of Bureaucratic Despotism
This course is a continuation of Constitution 101 (2012): The Meaning & History of the Constitution. These lectures focus on the importance of the principles of the American Founding and the current assault on them by Progressivism.
This mini course consists of ten lectures of about 30 to 40 minutes each, supplemental readings in American history and political philosophy, and a final quiz. Allow 21 study days to complete.
Public Policy from a Constitutional Viewpoint
The American Founders wrote a Constitution that established a government limited in size and scope, whose central purpose was to secure the natural rights of all Americans. By contrast, early Progressives rejected the notion of fixed limits on government, and their political descendants continue today to seek an ever-larger role for the federal bureaucracy in American life. In light of this fundamental and ongoing disagreement over the purpose of government, this course will consider contemporary public policy issues from a constitutional viewpoint.
This mini course consists of ten lectures of about 30 to 40 minutes each, supplemental readings in American history and political philosophy, and a final quiz. Allow 25 study days to complete.
Upon completion of the above, your homeschool can utilize the freely available resources provided by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to test your knowledge and understanding of US Civics. Start with the United States Civics Practice Test, brush up with the USCIS study resources, then write out the answers to the 100 Civics Questions upon which the Citizenship test draws.
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