Each lesson focuses on a particular question related to the theme of the unit. Topics include natural rights, the origins of modern ideas of individual rights, the origins of constitutionalism and representative government in Great Britain, and the basic ideas about government in the Declaration of Independence. Other topics include the creation and powers of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government; the positions of the Federalists and the anti-Federalists in the debate about ratification; and the use of the Constitution to organize the new government. Further sections focus on the amendments to the constitution, the ways the civil rights movement used the Constitution, the protections involved in each amendment, and constitutional issues likely to emerge in the future. Chapter exercises and review questions; photographs; illustrations; lists of terms; and appended index, glossary, biographies of historical figures, text of the Constitution, and related information