This is a searchable database of the cornerstone documents of our government. It has more than 100,000 digitized copies of the National Archives most popular and significant manuscripts, photographs, maps, drawings and other documents.
The guide introduces educators and students to the National Archives' ARC. Searching in ARC to learn more about National Archives' historical documents could enrich a classroom activity, a homework assignment, or a research project.

This lesson presents documents produced around and during the historic 1841 trial of 53 Africans, captured and sold as slaves, and subsequently accused of murder for commandeering the slave ship, Amistad, and killing its captain and cook. The site also contains a detailed lesson plan.

This 1954 statement, issued by a group of black educators, strongly endorses the Supreme Court's Brown ruling.

This site presents papers of members of Congress, Supreme Court justices, and key federal law cases. Learn about the Revolution and the creation of the U.S. by investigating the papers of our earliest lawmakers -- Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and others. See Calhoun's speech against the Compromise of 1850 and Webster's notes for his speech in favor of it, General MacArthur's Old Soldiers Never Die address to Congress (April 1951), and more.

The Fourteenth Amendment established the equal protection clause, later used in key desegregation cases.

The Supreme Court's 1896 ruling legalized the separate but equal doctrine that sanctioned segregation.

The Supreme Court's 1927 opinion in Gong Lum v. Rice affirmed legalized school segregation.

This 1946 federal court ruling marked a victory for Mexican Americans and chipped away at the separate but equal doctrine, declaring segregated schools based on national origin unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court's landmark opinion overturned its earlier ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson and declared segregated schools unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court's opinion in Brown II reflects the struggle between federal and state governments on how and when school desegregation would occur.

This collection of excerpts from legislation and court decisions documents key phases of the legal struggle to gain and implement equal education.

In this lesson, students explore their First Amendment rights by learning about the Supreme Court case Frederick v. Morse, researching other important court decisions and creating a brochure for their peers illustrating their rights.

In this transcript of an interview for Eyes on the Prize, Harry and Eliza Briggs describe their experience in the first school desegregation case, Briggs v. Elliott.

HPOL is a collection of invaluable audio materials some available for the first time on this website capturing significant political and historical events and personalities of the twentieth century. The materials range from formal addresses delivered in public settings to private telephone conversations conducted from the innermost recesses of the White House. Our aim is to provide an accessible source of audio information to enliven instruction and scholarship in history and politics and to enable easy access for all persons to the rich audio archives of American history and politics.

Sylvia Mendez recalls the conditions that led Mexican Americans to sue for desegregation in the 1940s in this segment from Mendez vs. Westminster: Para Todos los Niños/For All the Children, from KOCE-TV.

This lesson is designed to show the process of perfecting the Union through changes made to the Constitution and through the powers delegated to each branch of government by the Constitution. The lesson encourages student deliberation on race in America by familiarizing students with Senator Obama's speech entitled, A More Perfect Union, his famous race speech, given at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia in March 2008. Students are asked to read the speech for homework, guided by essential questions. In class, students work in groups to analyze parts of the Constitution, legislation and a Supreme Court opinion. They are then asked to consider them in regards to the progression of race relations in American history and Sen. Barack Obama’s call to perfect the union. The deliberation culminates with students creating an action plan detailing how they will play a part in perfecting the union

The Oyez Project is a multimedia archive devoted to the Supreme Court of the United States and its work. It aims to be a complete and authoritative source for all audio recorded in the Court since the installation of a recording system in October 1955. The Project also provides authoritative information on all justices and offers a virtual reality 'tour' of portions of the Supreme Court building, including the chambers of some of the justices.

This is an image database of thousands of pages scanned from photocopies of original documents. Jay (1745-1829) helped negotiate peace with and independence from Great Britain. He served as Secretary for Foreign Affairs, contributed to the Federalist, was the first Chief Justice of the U.S., negotiated the 1794 Jay Treaty with Great Britain, and was a two-term governor of New York.

This segment from American Experience: Simple Justice profiles Charles Houston's strategy for attacking segregation and how he trained the legal team that eventually argued the Brown case.