Civics & American Government Online Textbook
Welcome! This free and reliable Civics and American Government textbook covers topics from my complete Curriculum for Civics and Government. It can also be paired with my Civics & Government Homeschool Course.
The articles are not intended to be a complete overview of everything you need to learn. However, these can certainly be used as a free online textbook for your social studies classroom. Additional sources are recommended to fill in the gaps and provide context for each era.
If you need this Civics and Government textbook as a PDF, you can save each page or paste the text into a Google Doc and convert to PDF.
Each of these articles is based on a variety of state standards, including the NY Regents, TEKS, and others. The textbook aligns with my curriculum and interactive notebook activities and is perfect for your 6th grade through 11th grade students.
Unit 1: Introduction to Government
Unit 2: Foundations of American Government
- Democracy in Ancient Athens and Rome
- Fundamental Political Principles
- The Rights of Englishmen That Shaped Our Constitution
- Natural Rights: John Locke vs. Rousseau
- The Mayflower Compact
- Documents and Men Who Shaped America
- Fundamental Concepts of Democracy
Unit 3: The Constitution and Federalism
- The Preamble of the Constitution
- Principles of the Constitution
- Articles of the Constitution
- Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
- The Bill of Rights
- The First Amendment
- The Amendment Process
- Amendments to the Constitution
- Understanding Due Process
- The Due Process Clause
- Checks, Balances & the Branches of Government
- Powers of Federal and State Governments
Unit 4: Political Parties
- What is a Political Party?
- America's Two Party System
- Individual Ideologies
- Comparing Liberals & Conservatives
Unit 5: Elections
- Influence on Elections
- Voter Turnout in Elections
- Reapportionment and Redistricting
- The Nomination & Election Process
- Campaign Funding & Spending
- Campaign Court Cases
Unit 6: The Legislative Branch
- Expressed Powers of Congress
- Congressional Leadership
- The Legislative Branch
- How a Bill Becomes a Law
- Congress and the Budget
Unit 7: The Executive Branch
- Roles of the President
- The Cabinet and Executive Departments
- The Powers of the President
- Presidential Leadership and Decision-Making
Unit 8: The Judicial Branch
- The Supreme Court
- Types of Jurisdiction
- Jurisdiction of Federal Courts
- Marbury v. Madison (1803)
- Deciding Supreme Court Cases
- Judicial Activism and Restraint
Unit 9: Civil Liberties
- Rights for Women
- First Amendment Freedoms in Practice
- The Rights of the Accused
- Equal Protection Under the Law
Unit 10: Foreign Policy
- Government and Foreign Policy
- American Foreign Policy
- National Security
- International Trade
- Limited & Authoritarian Government
Unit 11: Local Government
- State and Local Government
- Regional Authorities & County Boards
- Independent City Government
- Forms of County Government
- Town Governments
- State and Local Issues
