Welcome to The Dirksen Congressional Center's Communicator - a web-based e-newsletter providing educators with news and ideas to enhance civic education and improve the understanding of Congress -- http://www.webcommunicator.org/.

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NEWS FROM THE DIRKSEN CENTER
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We have changed our e-mail addresses and the URLs of two of our Web sites. Please update your bookmarks and address books.

Frank H. Mackaman: fmackaman@dirksencenter.org
Cindy Koeppel: ckoeppel@dirksencenter.org
Lynn Kasinger: lkasinger@dirksencenter.org

The Dirksen Congressional Center Web site: http://www.dirksencenter.org
The Communicator Web site: http://www.webcommunicator.org

DEADLINE -- MAY 1, 2002: Robert H. Michel Civic Education Grants

The Dirksen Congressional Center invites applications for grants totaling $50,000 in 2001-2002 to help teachers, curriculum developers, and others improve the quality of civics instruction, with priority on the role of Congress in our federal government. Areas of interest include designing lesson plans, creating student activities, and applying instructional technology in the classroom.

Final proposals must be submitted by no later than May 1, 2002. Complete information about eligibility and application procedures, can be found at The Center's Web site -- http://www.dirksencenter.org/grantmichelciviced.htm. The Center does not provide an application form. You may find it helpful to review the sample grant proposal at -- http://www.dirksencenter.org/grantmichelcivicsample.htm.

USING THE WEB SUITE TO STUDY SLAVERY AND CIVIL RIGHTS

The Declaration of Independence may have declared that "all men are created equal," but laws did not treat them that way. Teachers, to help your students understand that slavery was a legal institution in the United States until the Thirteenth Amendment abolished it in 1865, you will find these links helpful:

Major Features of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 -- Historical Pressure for Legislation Action -- http://www.congresslink.org/print_basics_histmats_civilrights64text.htm#history. Discusses how the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments outlawed slavery. Outlines the provisions, guarantees, and protections for African Americans.

Brief annotations of the Constitution of the United States -- http://www.congresslink.org/print_teaching_historicalnotes.htm. Discusses the division between slave and free states and the Constitutional Convention's attempt to avoid using the word "slavery" in the articles granting recognition and protection.

In 1819 when the Missouri Territory, which allowed slavery, applied for statehood, the free states objected. To learn more about this plan which was agreed to by the United States Congress in 1820 to settle debate over slavery in the Louisiana Purchase area, visit this month's About Government "hot link," Link to Political Compromises: Missouri Compromise at: http://www.aboutgovernment.org/print_historicaldocuments.htm#general.

The issue of the extension of slavery was raised again when the territory of the United States was acquired at the end of the Mexican War. Congress approved the Compromise of 1850 after considerable debate. Do your students know about this series of legislative enactments? If not, introduce our featured lesson plan The Compromise of 1850. This lesson employs the Compromise of 1850 to illustrate the process of compromise in the U.S. Congress. Find this lesson at: http://www.congresslink.org/print_lp_compromise1850.htm.

The Supreme Court ruled that slaves must remain slaves even though they resided in a free state in the 1857 Dred Scott decision. To learn more about the Fourteenth Amendment and the rest of the Amendments made so far to the Constitution, visit our Congress for Kids Web site -- http://www.congressforkids.net. Print the scrambler found at -- http://www.congressforkids.net/games/amendments/1_scramble.htm -- and match the Amendment number with its definition. Once you're finished, click "Play More" and find 10 more activities that teach about the Amendments.

Although the Civil War (1861-1865) began as a test of whether states could withdraw from the Union, the goals of the North soon broadened to include abolishing slavery. On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves in the defiant areas of the country. Then Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen discussed the Emancipation Proclamation in July 1963 as Congress began considering what would become the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Read the Excerpt from Everett Dirksen's notebook, ca. July 1963 at: http://www.congresslink.org/print_basics_histmats_civilrights64_doc3.htm.

Attention Government Teachers!

MindUniversity -- http://www.minduniversity.com -- with a "Special Project Grant" from The Dirksen Congressional Center -- http://www.dirksencenter.org/ -- is offering government teachers an EXCITING opportunity to (1) try out an innovative Internet tool which helps them gather, manage and present information to students and (2) learn about ready-to-use, web-based resources which showcases The Dirksen Center's powerful Web suite -- http://www.dirksencongressionalcenter.org -- about Congress and the federal government.

If you want to take part in a 10-minute MindUniversity e-mail tutorial, send the following information to susan.fouts@minduniversity.com.

1. Your name
2. Your e-mail address
3. Your school and the state in which it resides

Civil Queries and Keys

Martin Luther King, Jr., was the central leader of a civil rights group called the...

A. Black Muslims
B. Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee
C. Southern Christian Leadership Conference
D. Black Panthers
E. Luthern Synod

True or False: Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery in 1863.

Answers to March's issue of Fun, Facts, and Trivia link here: http://www.webcommunicator.org/funfactstrivia0302ans.htm.

The April issue of the Communicator is accomplished! If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, contact Cindy Koeppel at ckoeppel@dirksencenter.org. Your feedback makes a difference! Encourage your colleagues to subscribe to the Communicator.