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6th grade · Social Studies · Unit 7 of 14

Founding Ideals

Declaration, Constitution and their roots

What your child practices

The Magna Carta, English Bill of Rights and Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the debates of 1787, the Federalist Papers, and the principles of the Constitution.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 6.12; 6.13 · the ideas and earlier governments behind the Constitution, and its main principles

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Popular sovereignty: government gets power from the people. Republicanism: citizens elect representatives.
  2. The Constitution is hard to amend so changes need broad agreement. The “necessary and proper” clause lets Congress carry out its powers.
  3. Later groups used the ideals: Seneca Falls (1848) said all men and women are created equal.

Example: What is popular sovereignty? Popular refers to the people; sovereignty is power. Power comes from the people. Answer: the idea that government gets its power from the people

Founding Ideals in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 7 of 14 in 6th grade Social Studies, after Building a Government and before Rights & Amendments.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which Enlightenment thinker wrote that people have natural rights to life, liberty and property?

    • John Locke
    • Julius Caesar
    • Confucius
    • King George III

  2. Question 2

    Jefferson's Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was a forerunner of…

    • the Electoral College
    • the Second Amendment
    • the Articles of Confederation
    • the First Amendment

  3. Question 3

    The Federalist Papers were written to persuade New York to…

    • join Canada
    • reject the Constitution
    • ratify the Constitution
    • declare war

  4. Question 4

    The "necessary and proper" clause lets Congress…

    • Abolish states
    • Choose the president
    • Ignore the Constitution
    • Make laws needed to carry out its listed powers

  5. Question 5

    The idea that government gets its power from the people is called…

    • Feudalism
    • Divine right
    • Popular sovereignty
    • Mercantilism

  6. Question 6

    The Preamble to the Constitution lists the goals of the government. Which is one?

    • "Tax the colonies"
    • "Abolish the states"
    • "Crown a king"
    • "Establish justice"

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