Using an inquiry based approach, Michigan high school students will learn about the foundations of American government by studying the Constitution and exploring how it works today.

The Founders did not create our system of government out of thin air. They were well-read and lived at a time when many new ideas about government were being developed. They took their inspiration from the ideas of a variety of thinkers, but each of the following had a distinct influence on what government in the United States would become: Aristotle, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, and Jean Jacques Rousseau.

The Declaration of Independence is key to understanding American government. Written in June and July of 1776, by the Committee of Five (Thomas Jefferson of Virgina, John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Robert Sherman of Connecticut, and Robert R. Livingston of New York), the document was forged in a time of crisis. American colonists were engaged in a war on their own soil against their mother country, England , who possessed the most disciplined military in the world. This document was like none previously seen.

In Democracy in America. Alexis de Tocqueville referred to America as “The Great Experiment.” But what did he mean by saying that America’s constitutional democracy was an experiment? America was founded on key principles which, are the same principles that govern our nation today.   America’s Founders initiated the experiment in democracy by trying out a new form of government, including the ideas that power should ultimately come from the people, that government power should be limited, and that individual liberties of all peoples should be protected.

A citizen is someone who is entitled to the legal rights granted by a state, and who is obligated to obey its laws and to fulfill certain duties. Living in the United States does not mean that someone is automatically a citizen. Permanent residents, people who have been lawfully admitted to the United States, are also granted certain legal rights and protections even if they are not citizens. For example, residents can live and work anywhere in the United States, attend public schools, join our armed forces and can also qualify for some Social Security benefits as well. Typically, people who are granted permanent resident status are immigrants who are related by birth or marriage to U.S. citizens or possess important job skills needed in the United States. Unlike citizens, permanent residents may not be able to hold public office or vote in elections. Why should someone consider becoming a citizen if they are not? Check out a list of all of the privileges of citizenship in the United States.

Have you ever stopped to think about why we have certain policies, laws and regulations? For instance, why is the driving age 16 or the drinking age 21? Why are there nutrition labels on all food packages? Why in Michigan, do you have to go to school until you are 18? Do you believe the United States should spend $601 billion dollars in 2016 on our national defense? Do you agree with how the United States handles issues with immigration? Do you even know how immigration issues and situations are handled? These are all examples of public policy.

In a letter written to James Madison in 1797, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “The principle of the Constitution is that of a separation of legislative, Executive and Judiciary functions, except in cases specified. If this principle be not expressed in direct terms, it is clearly the spirit of the Constitution…” The separation of powers was one of the fundamental principles of the Constitution’s Framers. The Legislative Branch is sometimes referred as the “people’s branch” since the Founders believed and intended the legislative branch to closely reflect the will of the citizens.

Using an inquiry based approach, Michigan high school students learn about World History from the fifth Era through today.

During the thirteenth century, the Mongols built an empire from scratch through remarkable feats of organization, planning, endurance, courage, slaughter, destruction, and terror. The empire was ruled by a combination of exploitation and protection of those conquered. The Mongol peace-keeping and encouragement of long distance communications, resulted in the widespread exchange of ideas, goods, and techniques, as well as in the spread of disease.

Today we live in a world that is extremely and irreversibly global. Our marketplaces offer seemingly limitless products from around the world. People utilize the Internet in order to connect to a body of collective learning previously unseen in history. This is in stark contrast to the origin of small hunting and gathering bands of Homo sapiens on the plains of East Africa. that existed close to 200,000 years ago. From these origins, Homo sapiens gradually migrated throughout the world. This lengthy journey culminated 14,000 years ago, with the human colonization of the last region of the earth, the Southern Cone of Argentina. At the end of this lengthy process of migration, the earth was divided into four distinct areas called world zones.

The Crusades began in 1096 and lasted until 1291. During two centuries of atrocious fighting between Christians and Muslims to control the Holy Land, the end result was the establishment of a bitter hatred between the two religions. From an exploration standpoint, however, the result was not as dismal. Crusading in the areas of northern and eastern Europe led to the expansion of some kingdoms and the creation of new political units. While religious fighting was occurring, traders moved into the area and started to profit economically from use of the land. When the Catholic Crusaders returned from the Middle East in the 12th and 13th Centuries, they brought back with them tales of new lands and peoples as well as cloth such as silk and foods such as sugar—all of which they had never experienced before.

Questions raised in this chapter: Why were African slaves used primarily for forced labor in the cotton and sugar plantations in the Americas? (Instead of indentured servants and or Native Americans) 2. Why was the Trans-Atlantic slave trade transformative to the economic way of life in the Americas? 3. How did African slavery in the New World differ fundamentally from past instances of slavery and other systems of labor in the same era? 4. How did the geography of the region dictate the role of slaves?

Drawing and quartering, burning at the stake, tar and feathering, the pillory, the wooden wheel, the rack - all were devices or methods used for torturing humans conjured up over the ages. But in 18th Century Europe, a new movement, a new set of ideas was sweeping through the continent. A new type of thought, of “enlightenment,” was engaging the philosophes -- French philosophers or thinkers. These thinkers applied methods of science to understand society and to make improvements in it. With the application of reason, the philosophes believed government, law, and society could be reformed. According to the philosophes, the role of punishment and torture should be questioned too.

The Industrial Revolution (ca. 1750-1900) may have involved fewer beheadings per capita than preceding political revolutions, but it was certainly transformative for people in all walks of life. In Europe, feudalism was a thing of the past, but without modern forms of transportation, the average person still had to rely on their local community for the production of food and durable goods. Prior to industrialization, most people lived as farmers; life revolved around subsistence agriculture. People worked the land with simple, homemade tools to grow their own food. Production of goods (clothing, for example) happened on a small scale, often within workers’ homes. Trade happened on a small scale within communities. Life expectancy was short, although it had increased at a slow rate since the Middle Ages. All of this, however, would change dramatically as the Industrial Revolution started in Great Britain and caused sweeping changes around the world. This global event transformed how people worked, played, traded and traveled. It changed politics, economics, and family structures and continues to shape our world today.