Shaping the Constitution: A View from Mount Vernon, 1783-1789

FAIN: BH-50221-07

Bill of Rights Institute (Arlington, VA 22203)
Claire McCaffery Griffin (Project Director: March 2007 to July 2009)

Two one-week workshops, held at Mount Vernon, for 100 school teachers, on George Washington and the genesis of the United States Constitution.

The Bill of Rights Institute proposes to conduct two professional development programs for a total of 100 teachers at the home of George Washington. These programs would be led by master teachers and scholars, and would center on Mount Vernon?s role as a setting for the conversations that helped shape the U.S. Constitution. Teachers will read both primary and secondary sources, with an emphasis on correspondence between Washington and visitors to Mount Vernon. They will also develop classroom activities using the knowledge and tools gained at Mount Vernon. With deeper knowledge of our Founding principles, teachers will leave this program better able to encourage their students to understand what it means to be an American.