Exploring Our Nation: Equal Protection Under the Law

CHAPTER 1. The Ninth & Tenth Amendment Students will learn that the Ninth Amendment in the Bill of Rights states that the rights of citizens are not limited to those rights spelled out in the constitution. The program discusses that the Tenth Amendment was intended to maintain a balance of power between the federal and state governments. Students will come to realize that a system of government that divides power between federal and state governments is called federalism. CHAPTER 2. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment This information provided in this video help students to understand the impact of the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the constitution. The thirteenth abolished slavery. The fourteenth provided equal protection of the laws while the Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed all men the right to vote. The program also examines important cases that challenged those laws and the Supreme Court s rulings on those cases through the years. CHAPTER 3. Equal Protection and Extending Rights This program examines how the Supreme Court refused to recognize the intention of the Fourteenth Amendment and the equal protection clause. Students will learn about the concept of separate but equal and about the Supreme Court decisions that ushered in the modern civil rights movement leading to the Equal Pay Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and others.