High School Government Lesson Plans by Book

Introductory government

Are You Liberal? Conservative? Or Confused?, Maybury [Amaz]

• pp. 17-32
• pp. 33-41
• pp. 42-51
• pp. 52-60
• pp. 61-72
• pp. 73-82
• pp. 83-92
• pp. 93-105
• pp. 106-117
• pp. 118-127

Government

The American Cause, Kirk (with introduction by Whitney) [Amaz] – Level 5 Year 2, Level 6 Year 1, Level 6 Year 2

Year 1

• Editor’s Introduction ix-xiv (stop at “and the United States above all.”)
• Editor’s Introduction Intro. xiv-xvii (stop at “which have made the American nation great”)
• Introduction Intro. xvii-xxi
• Ch 1 Ignorance – A Dangerous Luxury pp. 1-4
• Ch 2 The Need for Principles pp. 9-11
• Ch 2 The Need for Principles pp. 12-14
• Ch. 3 Moral Principle: Nature of Man pp. 15-17
• Ch. 3 Moral Principle: Nature of Man pp. 17-20
• Ch. 3 Moral Principle: Nature of Man pp. 20-23
• Ch 3 Moral Principle: Nature of Man pp. 23-26
• Ch 3 Moral Principle: Nature of Man pp. 26-30

Year 2

• Ch 4 Moral Principle: Church and State pp. 35-41
• Ch 4 Moral Principle: Church and State pp. 41-46
• Ch 5 Political Principle: Ordered Liberty pp. 53-57
• Ch 5 Political Principle: Ordered Liberty pp. 58-61
• Ch 5 Political Principle: Ordered Liberty pp. 61-64
• Ch 5 Political Principle: Ordered Liberty pp. 64-66
• Ch 6 Political Principle: The Federal Republic pp. 67-72
• Ch 6 Political Principle: The Federal Republic pp. 72-75
• Ch 6 Political Principle: The Federal Republic pp. 75-77
• Ch 6 Political Principle: The Federal Republic pp. 78-82
• Ch 6 Political Principle: The Federal Republic pp. 83-87

Year 3

• Ch 7 Economic Principle: The Free Economy pp. 89-92
• Ch 7 Economic Principle: The Free Economy pp. 92-95
• Ch 7 Economic Principle: The Free Economy pp. 95-98
• Ch 7 Economic Principle: The Free Economy pp. 98-104
• Ch 7 Economic Principle: The Free Economy pp. 105-107
• Ch 8 Economic Principle: American Economic Accomplishment pp. 109-112
• Ch 8 Economic Principle: American Economic Accomplishment pp. 112-117
• Ch 9 Anti-American Claims pp. 119-123
• Ch 9 Anti-American Claims pp. 123-126
• Ch 9 Anti-American Claims pp. 126-128
• Ch 9 Anti-American Claims pp. 128-133
• Ch 10 The American Answer pp. 135-138
• Ch 10 The American Answer pp. 139-142
• Afterward pp. 143-149 (stop before “It is important to see…”)
• Afterward pp. 149-153 (stop before “In addition to the Industrial Revolution…”)
• Afterward pp. 153-158

Government Primary Source Readings – selections of essays by American Founders and others – Level 5 Year 2

• Magna Carta and Principles of Liberty: A Study of the Magna Carta (ICC lecture)
• “Reading the American Founding” by Bradley J. Birzer
• Dissertation on Feudal and Canon Law by John Adams
• “A Discourse of Standing Armies” by Thomas Gordon
• “The Genuine Principles of the Ancient Saxon, or English Constitution” by Demophilus
• Cato: A Tragedy by Addison
• “Remarks on the Quebec Bill” by Hamilton
• Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer: 1 by Dickinson
• Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer: 3 by Dickinson
• Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer: 8 by Dickinson
• Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer: 9 by Dickinson
• Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer: 10 by Dickinson
• Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer: 12 by Dickinson
• “Speech on American Taxation” by Edmund Burke & “Edmund Burke and the Dignity of the Human Person” by Bradley J. Birzer
• “The Church’s Flight into the Wilderness” by Samuel Sherwood
• Federalist #1, “Introduction” by Alexander Hamilton
• Federalist #47 “The meaning of the maxim, which requires a separation of the departments of power, examined and ascertained” by James Madison
• “How Conservatives and Liberals View The Federalist” by George Carey
• Declaration of Independence & “How to Read the Declaration of Independence” by M. E. Bradford
• Articles of Confederation and Federalist #2 “Concerning Dangers from Foreign Force & Influence” by John Jay
• Federalist #9 “The Utility of the Union as a Safeguard against Domestic Faction and Insurrection” by Alexander Hamilton
• Federalist #10 “The Same Subject Continued” by James Madison
• Federalist #37 “Concerning the difficulties which the convention must have experienced in the formation of a proper plan” by James Madison
• U.S. Constitution Article I & Federalist #51 “The same subject continued, with the same view, and concluded” by James Madison
• Federalist #57 “The same subject continued, in relation to the supposed tendency of the plan of the convention to elevate the few above the many” by James Madison
• Federalist #62 “Concerning the constitution of the senate, with regard to the qualifications of the members; the manner of appointing them; the equality of representation; the number of the senators, and the duration of their appointments” by James Madison
• Federalist #63 “A further view of the constitution of the senate, in regard to the duration of the appointment of its members” by James Madison & “Federalists and Anti-Federalists” by Bradley J. Birzer
• U.S. Constitution, Article II & Federalist #68 “The view of the constitution of the president continued, in relation to the mode of appointment” by Alexander Hamilton
• Federalist #70 “The same view continued, in relation to the unity of the executive, and with an examination of the project of an executive council” by Alexander Hamilton
• Federalist #72 “The same view continued, in regard to the re-eligibility of the president” by Alexander Hamilton
• U.S. Constitution, Article III & Federalist #78 “A view of the constitution of the judicial department in relation to the tenure of good behaviour” by Alexander Hamilton
• U.S. Constitution, Articles IV-VII & (Your State Constitution)
• Bill of Rights & Federalist #84 “Concerning several miscellaneous objections” by Alexander Hamilton 

Major Problems in American History Since 1945, Griffith and Baker, second edition [Amaz] – Level 6 Year 1, Level 6 Year 2

Year 1

• Ch. 1, “The Origins of the Postwar International System’” pp. 1-16
• Ch. 1, “The Roots of Postwar Politics” pp. 16-26
• Ch. 1, “The Legacies of World War II” pp. 26-34
• Ch. 2, “President Harry S Truman’s Advisers Discuss the Atomic Bomb, May 1945” pp. 36-38
• Ch. 2, “Atomic Scientists Urge an Alternative Course, June 1945” pp. 38-40
• Ch. 2, “U.S. Science Advisers Endorse Dropping the Bomb, June 1945”, “Undersecretary of the Navy Ralph Bard Urges Alternatives, June 1945” pp. 40-41
• Ch. 2, “General Leslie Groves Reports on a Successful Test, July 1945”, “President Truman Discusses the Bomb at Potsdam, July 1945” pp. 41-44
• Ch. 2, “The U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey Concludes That the Bomb Was Unnecessary, 1946” pp. 45-49
• Ch. 2, Essays “The Biggest Decision: Why We Had to Drop the Atomic Bomb” pp. 49-57
• Ch. 2, Essay “Hiroshima: Historians Reassess” pp. 57-68
• “The Catholic Holocaust of Nagasaki”; “Truman’s Terrible Choice, 75 Years Ago”; and “Catholic Morality and the Bomb”
• Ch. 3, “President Harry S. Truman and His Advisors Debate U.S. Policy Toward the U.S.S.R., April 1945″ pp. 70-74
• Ch. 3, “Russian Premier Joseph Stalin Defends Soviet Policy in Eastern Europe, April 1945”, “Secretary of Commerce Henry A. Wallace Urges a Conciliatory Approach, July 1946” pp. 74-76
• Ch. 3, “White House Aide Clark M. Clifford Summarizes the Case for the Hard Line, September 1946” pp. 76-80
• Ch. 3, “Soviet Ambassador Nikolai Novikov Reports on the U.S. Drive for World Supremacy, September 1946” pp. 80-85
• Ch. 3, “The Truman Doctrine, March 1947”, “Undersecretary of State Dean Acheson Calls for Economic Aid to Europe, May 1947” pp. 86-89
• Ch. 3, “The President’s Advisors Urge Military Expansion, April 1950” pp. 90-93
• Ch. 3, “President Truman and His Advisors Determine the United States’ Response to the Invasion of South Korea, June 26 1950” pp. 93-96
• Ch. 3 Essays “Soviet Unilateralism and the Origins of the Cold War” pp. 96-108
• Ch. 3 Essay “An Exaggerated Threat and the Rise of American Globalism” pp. 108-118
• Students may want to read selections from Ch. 4 for insights into the unique economic and social ideas introduced in the 1950s. Parents should preview.
• Ch. 5, “Fidel Castro Denounces U.S. Policy Toward Cuba, 1960”, “President Kennedy Calls for an Alliance for Progress, 1961” pp. 159-165
• Ch. 5, “A Board of Inquiry Reports on the Bay of Pigs, 1961” pp. 165-169
• Ch. 5, “President Kennedy and His Advisors Debate Options in the Missile Crisis, October 16, 1962” pp. 170-177
• Ch. 5, “Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev Appeals to President Kennedy, October 26, 1962”, “Anastas I Mikoyan and Fidel Castro Review the Crisis, November 3-4, 1962” pp. 177-183
• Ch. 5 Essays “Spinning Out of Control: Kennedy’s War Against Cuba and the Missile Crisis” pp. 183-195
• Ch. 5, “Aftermath” pp. 196-212
• Ch. 6 “Michael Harrington Describes the ‘Other America,’ 1962”, “President Lyndon B. Johnson Declares War on Poverty, 1964” pp. 215-221
• Ch. 6, “President Ronald Reagan Warns of the Dangers of the Welfare State, 1964”, “A Liberal Cartoonist Worries That Johnson Has Abandoned the Welfare State”, “Two White House Aids Report the Achievements of the Great Society, 1966”, “Poverty in America, 1959-1997: A Graphic” pp. 221-226
• Ch. 6, Essays “Was the Great Society a Lost Opportunity” pp. 226-240
• Ch. 6, Essay “From Opportunities to Entitlement” pp. 240-246

Year 2

• Ch. 7, “The New York Times Reports a Murder in Georgia, 1946”, “Malcom X Recalls Getting a ‘Conk,’ 1964”, “Brown vs. Board of Education, 1954” pp. 249-254
• Ch. 7, “Franklin McCain Remembers the First sit-In, 1960”, “Martin Luther King, Jr., ‘I Have a Dream,’ 1963”, “Stokely Carmichael Explains “Black Power” pp. 254-263
• Ch. 7, “A Senate Committee Reports on Campaign Against Martin Luther King, Jr., 1976” pp. 263-265 and “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”
• Ch. 7, Essays “King As Disturber of the Piece” pp. 265-271
• Ch. 7, Essay “The Continuing Racial Crisis” pp. 272-278 and Optional Video: Ta-Nehisi Coats and John McWhorter Discuss and Debate Black Hip-Hop Culture and Racism
• Ch. 8, “The Vietnamese Declare Their Independence, 1945”, “State Department Advisors Debate U.S. Support for French in Vietnam, 1949”, “President Dwight D. Eisenhower Explains the Domino Theory, 1954” pp. 281-287
• Ch. 8, “Final Declaration of the Geneva Conference on Indochina, 1954”, “Nguyan Tan Thanh, a South Vietnamese Peasant, Explains Why He Joined the Vietcong (1961), 1986”, “The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, 1964” pp. 287-290
• Ch. 8, “President Lyndon Johnson’s Advisors Debate Expanding the War, 1965” pp. 291-296
• Ch. 8, “Lieutenant Marion Lee Kempner, a Young Marine, Explains the War, 1966” and “Wrong Rambo! A Vietnam Veteran Looks Back, 1985” pp. 296-299
• Ch. 8, Essays “The Cold War and American Intervention in Vietnam” pp. 299-310
• Ch. 8, Essay “The Meaning of Vietnam” pp. 310-320
• Ch. 12, “President Jimmy Carter and the Crisis of the American Spirit, 1979”, “Presidential Candidate Ronald Reagan Calls for New Economic Policies, 1980”, “President George Bush Seeks a Kinder, Gentler Nation, 1989” pp. 449-458
• Ch. 12, “The Republican ‘Contract With America,’ 1994”, “President Bill Clinton Signs a Bill to ‘End Welfare as We Know It,’ 1996”, “A Liberal Post-Mortem on the 1996 Election” pp. 459-464
• Ch. 12, Essays “The Mobilization of American Business” pp. 464-477
• Ch. 12, Essay “Democrats and Republicans Forge a New Political Economy” pp. 477-496
• Ch. 13, “President Ronald Reagan Denounces the Soviet Empire as an ‘Evil’ Empire, 1982″, “U.S. Military Spending: A Graphic” pp. 498-503
• Ch. 13, “A Congressional Committee Reports on Irangate, 1987” pp. 504-508
• Ch. 13, “Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev Charts a New Direction for the U.S.S.R.” “The New York Times Announces the End of the Cold War, 1989”, “President George Bush Declares a New World Order, 1990” pp. 509-514 and “Ronald Reagan Addresses the British Parliament”
• Ch. 13, Essays “Ronald Reagan’s Cold War Victory” pp. 514-519
• Ch. 13, Essay “Reagan and the Russians” pp. 519-521
• Ch. 13, Essay “Reagan and Central America” pp. 521-529

Centesimus Annus, Pope St. John Paul II [Vatican website]

• Introduction 1-3; I. Characteristics of “Rerum Novarum” 4-7
• I. Characteristics of “Rerum Novarum” 8-11
• II. Towards the ‘New Things’ of Today 12-16
• II. Towards the ‘New Things’ of Today 17-21
• III. The Year 1989 22-25
• III. The Year 1989 26-29
• IV. Private Property and the Universal Destination of Material Goods 30-36
• IV. Private Property and the Universal Destination of Material Goods 37-43
• V. State and Capital 44-52
• V. State and Capital 53-62
• “Does the Church Oppose the Free Market”

novels

Animal Farm, Orwell [Amaz] – Level 5 Year 1

• Ch. 1
• Ch. 2
• Ch. 3
• Ch. 4
• Ch. 5
• Ch. 6
• Ch. 7
• Ch. 8
• Ch. 9
• Ch. 10

Brave New World, Huxley [Amaz][online version] – Level 5 Year 2 (optional lessons scheduled)

• Ch. 1-2
• Ch. 3-4
• Ch. 5-6
• Ch. 7-8
• Ch. 9-10
• Ch. 11-12
• Ch. 13-14
• Ch. 15-16
• Ch. 17-18

1984, Orwell [Amaz][PDF][online version] – Level 6 Year 1 (optional lessons scheduled)

• Book 1, Ch. 1-2
• Book 1, Ch. 3-4
• Book 1, Ch. 5-6
• Book 1, Ch. 7-8
• Book 2, Ch. 1-2
• Book 2, Ch. 3-4
• Book 2, Ch. 5-6
• Book 2, Ch. 7-8
• Book 2, Ch. 9
• Book 3, Ch. 1-2
• Book 3, Ch. 3-4
• Book 3, Ch. 5-6

All the King’s Men, Warren [Amaz] (ad lib) – Level 6 Year 2

Students may read this book on their own time. There is some scheduled ad lib reading time in the lesson plans, but no specific reading plan.

honors selections

Reflections on the Revolution in France, Burke [Amaz][Project Gutenberg][PDF] – If you choose to purchase this book, look through the reviews carefully to find one that is a readable edition. This selection is one of the more challenging honors options. Level 5 Year 2

The page numbers below are from the Project Gutenberg edition (The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. III.). Some text is included to assist the student in finding the end of each reading in any edition.

• pp. 233-253, stop at “…and bound indissolubly together.”
• pp. 253-271, start at “A few years after this period…”, stop at “…last resource of the thinking and the good.”
• pp. 271-291, start at “The third head of right asserted by the pulpit…”, stop at “…in the management of human affairs.”
• pp. 291-310, start at “Having considered the composition of the third estate…”, stop at “…he makes a surrender in trust of the whole of it.”
• pp. 310-333, start at “Government is not made in virtue of natural rights…”, stop at “…as a ridiculous, absurd, and antiquated fashion.”
• pp. 333-352, start at “On this scheme of things, a king is but a man…”, stop at “…the best-constituted republics within their reach.”
• pp. 352-370 (end of page), start at “First I beg leave to speak of our Church Establishment…”, stop at “…against similar conclusions.”
• pp. 371-393, start at “I hope we shall never be so totally lost…”, stop at “…part of the proceedings of the National Assembly.”
• pp. 393-412, start at “To cut off all appearance of connection between…”, stop at “…and loyalty were his constant theme.”
• pp. 412-432, start at “But the nobility of France are degenerated since…”, stop at “…they are none of ours.”
• pp. 432-452, start at “You may suppose that we do not approve your…”, stop at “…to prove their tendency beneficial.”
• pp, 452-473, start at “We must always see with a pity not unmixed with respect…”, stop at “…bite each other to their mutual destruction.”
• pp. 473-492, start at “I am afraid I have gone too far into their way of considering…”, stop at “…to the first cementing principle.”
• pp. 492-514 (end of page), start at “The second material of cement for their new republic…”, stop at “…absence of mutiny than the existence of discipline.”
• pp. 515-534, start at “I cannot help pausing here for a moment…”, stop at “…produced by an ill-constructed system of government.”
• pp. 534-554, start at “Having concluded my few remarks on the constitution…”, stop at “…certainly not Judæus Apella.”
• pp. 554-563 (end), start at “A noble indignation rises in the minds…”, stop at “…which may preserve its equipoise.” (the end)

The Grand Inquisitor, Dostoevsky (from The Brothers Karamazov) [Amaz][Project Gutenberg] – alternative in Level 5 Year 2

• This brief selection could be read in one or two sittings.

ad lib selections

Students may read these books on their own time. There is some scheduled ad lib reading time in the lesson plans, but no specific reading plan.

A Song for Nagasaki: The Story of Takashi Nagai: Scientist, Convert, and Survivor of the Atomic Bomb, Glynn and Endo [Amaz] – Level 6 Year 1 (Term 1)

The Making of the Atomic Bomb, Rhodes [Amaz] – Level 6 Year 1 (Term 1)

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Solzhenitsyn [Amaz] – Level 6 Year 1 (Term 2)

Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy [Amaz] – Level 6 Year 1 (Term 3)

The Grunt Padre: Father Vincent Robert Capodanno, Vietnam, 1966-1967, Mode [Amaz] – Level 6 Year 2 (Term 1)

A Pope and a President, Kengor (for the ambitious or motivated student) [Amaz] – Level 6 Year 2 (Term 2)

Small Is Still Beautiful, Pearce [Amaz] – Level 6 Year 2 (Term 3)

Third Ways: How Bulgarian Greens, Swedish Housewives, and Beer-Swilling Englishmen Created Family-Centered Economics — And Why They Disappeared, Carlson [Amaz] – Level 6 Year 2 (Term 3)