60-Second Civics Podcast
917 episodes - English - Latest episode: 2 days ago - ★★★★ - 75 ratings60-Second Civics is a daily podcast that provides a quick and convenient way for listeners to learn about our nation's government, the Constitution, and our history. The podcast explores themes related to civics and government, the constitutional issues behind the headlines, and the people and ideas that formed our nation's history and government.
60-Second Civics is produced by the Center for Civic Education. The show's content is primarily derived from the Center's education for democracy curricula, including We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution, Project Citizen, Foundations of Democracy, and Elements of Democracy.
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Episodes
60-Second Civics: Episode 5120, Americans' Sense of Political Equality: The Basic Ideas of Constitutional Government in the Colonies, Part 18
April 26, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteThe Declaration of Independence states that all men, meaning all people, are created equal. But where did this idea come from? Ideas of natural political equality were developed in seventeenth-century England and exported to its colonies across the North Atlantic. Learn more in today's episode! Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5119, andquot;All Men Are Created Equal:andquot; The Basic Ideas of Constitutional Government in the Colonies, Part 17
April 25, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteThe Declaration of Independence states that among the andquot;truthsandquot; that Americans hold to be andquot;self-evidentandquot; is that andquot;all Men are created equal.andquot; But what did Thomas Jefferson mean by this statement? Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5118, The American Creed: The Basic Ideas of Constitutional Government in the Colonies, Part 16
April 24, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteThomas Jefferson said that his purpose in writing the Declaration of Independence was to express a shared understanding of andquot;the American mind.andquot; Over the course of a few days in June 1776, Jefferson laid out the most fundamental principles and central political beliefs of the American Revolution and of the people the Revolution created. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5117, Why Americans Held These Truths to Be Self-evident: The Basic Ideas of Constitutional Govt. in the Colonies, Part 15
April 23, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteWhy did the writers of the Declaration of Independence andquot;hold these Truths to be self-evident?andquot; Among other things, these Americans were deeply influenced by the teachings of Christianity and English republicanism. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5116, The Meaning of Self-Evident Truths: The Basic Ideas of Constitutional Govt. in the Colonies, Part 14
April 22, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteThe second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence begins like this: andquot;We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.andquot; But what does andquot;We hold these truths to be self-evidentandquot; mean? We explain more in today's episode! Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 4864, The Intolerable Acts: The Road to Independence, Part 12
April 19, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteFollowing the Boston Tea Party, the British government responded with what colonists called the Intolerable Acts, a series of Punitive Acts that, among other things, closed Boston Harbor to all trade.??Listen to today???s episode to learn more! Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5114, Elections in Colonial America: The Basic Ideas of Constitutional Government, Part 12
April 18, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteElections in the colonial era and in the early American republic were rather uncivilized compared to today's standards. Explore the differences between then and now in today's episode! Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5113, Qualifying to Vote in Early America: The Basic Ideas of Constitutional Government in the Colonies, Part 11
April 17, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteIn the American colonies, the right to vote followed the British model: only free adult males who owned a certain amount of property could vote, though there were limited exceptions to this rule. Listen to learn more! Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5112, Voting Rights in Colonial America: The Basic Ideas of Constitutional Government in the Colonies, Part 10
April 12, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteVoting rights in colonial America depended on the ownership of property. In other words, a person had to own a certain amount of land, livestock, or other property in order to qualify to vote. Listen to learn more! Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5111, Representative Democracy in Colonial America: The Basic Ideas of Constitutional Government in the Colonies, Part 9
April 11, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteEach of the thirteen American colonies had some features of representative democracy that we still see today. For example, each of the colonies had a legislative, executive, and judicial branch. Learn more with today???s episode! Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5109, The Massachusetts Body of Liberties: The Basic Ideas of Constitutional Government in the Colonies, Part 7
April 09, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteAmericans have had a tradition of written guarantees of rights since the time of the thirteen colonies. The Massachusetts Body of Liberties of 1641 provides a good example. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5108, Written Guarantees of Rights: The Basic Ideas of Constitutional Government in the Colonies, Part 6
April 08, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteDespite the presence of indentured servitude and slavery in colonial America, many Americans enjoyed written guarantees of their rights. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5107, Slavery in Colonial America: The Basic Ideas of Constitutional Government in the Colonies, Part 5
April 05, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteSlavery was present in the thirteen American colonies since at least the early 1600s. Until slavery was abolished in the mid-nineteenth century, almost 12 million Africans were transported against their will to America. Listen to today's podcast to learn more about the foundations of slavery in the US. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5106, Indentured Servitude in Colonial America: The Basic Ideas of Constitutional Government in the Colonies, Part 4
April 04, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteLand was plentiful in the thirteen American colonies, but labor was scarce. It was also expensive to sail from Britain to America. This reality created incentives for indentured servitude. Learn more about these colonists in today's episode! Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5105, The Southern Colonies: The Basic Ideas of Constitutional Government in the Colonies, Part 3
April 03, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteThe mostly rural and agricultural southern colonies differed a great deal from both the New England and Middle Colonies. Learn how in today's episode! Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5104, The Middle Colonies: Basic Ideas of Rights and Constitutional Government in the Colonies, Part 2
April 02, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteAmerica's Middle Colonies included today's states of Delaware, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The Middle Colonies different in important ways from the New England colonies. Learn about these key differences in today's episode! Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5103, The New England Colonies: Basic Ideas of Rights and Constitutional Government in the Colonies, Part 1
April 01, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteThe American colonies can be divided into three regions: New England, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. At the time of American independence, in 1776, the New England colonies were Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Learn more about this group of colonies in today's episode! Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5102, Marie Louise Bottineau Baldwin: Women's History Month, Part 21
March 29, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteMarie Louise Bottineau Baldwin was a Native American activist, attorney, and advocate of women's right to vote. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5099, Susan B. Anthony: Women's History Month, Part 18
March 26, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteAfter her trial for having voted in an 1872 election, Susan B. Anthony explained to the judge the implications of her conviction: "My natural rights, my civil rights, my political rights, are all alike ignored. Robbed of the fundamental privilege of citizenship, I am degraded from the status of a citizen to that of a subject." Today, women in Rochester, New York, cover her grave with "I Voted" stickers. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5097, The Seneca Falls Convention: Women's History Month, Part 16
March 22, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteIn 1848, about 300 activists met in Seneca Falls, New York, for the first convention in the United States devoted to women's rights. They discussed Elizabeth Cady Stanton's proposed Declaration of Sentiments, which mirrored the language of the Declaration of Independence. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5096, The Forten Sisters: Women's History Month, Part 15
March 21, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteMargaretta, Harriet, and Sarah Forten were three powerful African American campaigners for the abolition and women's rights movements. Harriet and Sarah married members of another prominent abolitionist family, the Purvises. Harriet and her husband Robert were involved in the Underground Railroad, and their home served as a refuge for people who had escaped slavery and as a meeting place for abolitionists. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5092, Fanny Wright: Women's History Month, Part 11
March 15, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteFanny Wright was radical by the standards of her time. She was a writer and social activist who campaigned for equal rights for women, free and secular public education for both boys and girls, and the abolition of slavery, among other social and political issues. Wright was a fierce advocate of equality. She was friends with Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette, conversing with them about political philosophy, and she admired the American experiment with self-government. Cen...
60-Second Civics: Episode 5091, Mercy Otis Warren: Women's History Month, Part 10
March 14, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteMercy Otis Warren was a playwright, poet, historian, and Anti-Federalist political commentator during the American Revolution. She was a talented writer, admired for her skill and her dedication to the principles of natural rights behind the Revolution. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5090, Margaret Todd Whetten: Women's History Month, Part 9
March 13, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteMargaret Todd Whetten and her daughters provided food, clothing, and support to American prisoners in New York City, despite being called by one British jailer the "damndest rebels in New York." They provided a safe refuge for American spies in their home, saving them from capture and certain hanging. As as result, her house became known as the "rebel headquarters." Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5089, Women During the Revolutionary War: Women's History Month, Part 8
March 12, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteWomen served the American cause in many ways during the Revolutionary War, even as combatants. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5088, The Daughters of Liberty: Women's History Month, Part 7
March 11, 2024 07:00 - 1 minuteAt the start of the American Revolution, women patriots organized into a group known as the Daughters of Liberty. Like their male counterparts, the Sons of Liberty, women took action, such as boycotts, to protest British policies. For example, they replace imported British tea with "liberty tea," made from leaves, herbs, fruits, and flowers, like goldenrod. Without women's adherence to the boycotts, they would not have been effective. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5086, Nanye'hi: Women's History Month, Part 5
March 07, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteDespite being known as the "War Woman of Chota," Nanye'hi, also known as Nancy Ward, was a Cherokee woman who would work for much of her life to ensure peace between the Cherokees and the Americans, while attempting to prevent the further seizure of Cherokee land. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5085, Elizabeth Freeman: Women's History Month, Part 4
March 06, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteElizabeth Freeman, also known as Mum Bett, escaped slavery in a way that was unusual: she took her case to court. She approached lawyer Theodore Sedgwick with this question: "I heard that paper read yesterday that says 'all men are born equal,' and that every man has a right to freedom ... won't the law give me my freedom?" Appealing to her natural rights and her rights under the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780, she sued for her freedom and won. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5084, Ona Judge: Women's History Month, Part 3
March 05, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteOna Judge escaped George and Martha Washington's household, where she was an enslaved housemaid, and made her way to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where she eluded George Washington's determined attempts to capture her. She made a new life for herself in New Hampshire, marrying and having three children. Her side of her remarkable story survives because she gave interviews to at least two abolitionist newspapers. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5083, Coverture and the Colonial Era: Women's History Month, Part 2
March 04, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteA married woman living during the American colonial era would have lived under the legal doctrine called "coverture," where her legal identity was subsumed under that of her husband. William Blackstone wrote, "By marriage, the husband and wife are one person in the law: that is, the very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage, or at least is incorporated and consolidated into that of the husband: under whose wing, protection, and cover, she performs every thing...
60-Second Civics: Episode 5082, The Struggle for Equality: Women's History Month, Part 1
March 01, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteIt's Women's History Month! All this month, 60-Second Civics will explain the struggle for equal rights for women and how our Constitution and laws evolved to make our nation a more representative democracy. In this episode, we briefly trace the struggle of women for equal voting rights in the United States. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5081, Important Figures in the Civil Rights Movement: Dr. Vicki Ross-Norris, Part 6
February 29, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteThroughout her life, Dr. Ross-Norris has interacted with several prominent civil rights leaders, including Dr. Dorothy Height and Rev. Fauntroy. Learn more how these figures inspired the next generation of civil rights leaders in today's episode. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5080, Maya Angelou and Her Role as a Citizen: Dr. Vicki Ross-Norris, Part 5
February 28, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteMaya Angelou, an African American poet and civil rights activist, used her artistic abilities to communicate the Black experience and serve as an instrument for others to understand African American culture. Listen as Dr. Vicki Ross-Norris recounts her interactions with Maya Angelou in today's episode! Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5079, Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Dr. Vicki Ross-Norris, Part 4
February 27, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteToday, we ask our guest, Dr. Vicki Ross-Norris, why historically black colleges and universities are important. In the episode, she shares her experience as a Howard University alumna and how attending an HBCU was significant to her as an African American. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5078, The Tuskegee Airmen: Dr. Vicki Ross-Norris, Part 3
February 26, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteIn today's episode, Dr. Ross-Norris talks about the Tuskegee Airmen, a group her father belonged to and who taught her important lessons about civics and being an American. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5077, Learning About the African American Experience: Dr. Vicki Ross-Norris, Part 2
February 22, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteIn February, we celebrate Black History Month. Today we ask Dr. Ross-Norris: Why should all Americans learn about the African American experience? Listen to learn why! Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5075, A Just and a Lasting Peace
February 20, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteBy the time of Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, the Civil War was winding down. Learn more about his hopes for a just and a lasting peace after the war on today's 60-Second Civics podcast. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5074, Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
February 19, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteAbraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, given on November 19, 1863, recognized the central importance of founding-era principles to the meaning and destiny of America. Learn more about this famous address in today???s episode of 60-Second Civics. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5073, Abraham Lincoln and America's Founding Principles
February 15, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteAbraham Lincoln tried to revive and renew political principles that defined America at its birth in 1776 throughout his political career. Listen to learn more! Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5071, The Emancipation Proclamation
February 14, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteOn September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln publicly announced his Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. It warned the Confederate rebels that unless they rejoined the Union, a final proclamation would free all slaves within the seceded states. Listen to learn more! Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5070, Abraham Lincoln on Slavery
February 13, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteAfter winning the 1860 presidential election, Lincoln repeated his long-held opposition to slavery. However, he insisted that the federal government would not take action against slavery in the states where it existed. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5069, Lincoln Takes Strong Action against the Rebellion
February 12, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteLearn about President Lincoln and the writ of habeas corpus. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5068, Suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus During the Civil War
February 09, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteChief Justice Roger B. Taney rules against Abraham Lincoln's aggressive use of war powers. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5067, The Prize Cases
February 08, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteThe Prize Cases posed a constitutional test of Abraham Lincoln's use of war powers during an emergency. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5066, Congress Approves Lincoln's Actions
February 07, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteCritics accused Abraham Lincoln of trampling on the Constitution, but he thought his actions were needed to save both the Union and the Constitution. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5065, Lincoln Takes Immediate Action Against the Confederacy
February 06, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteWhen fighting began between Confederate and Union forces in April of 1861, Abraham Lincoln acted decisively, but some questioned whether his actions were constitutional. Learn more about Lincoln???s reaction to secession and the constitutional debate in this episode of the 60-Second Civics daily podcast. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5064, The Civil War Begins
February 05, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteAbraham Lincoln faced a tough first year in office: secession and war plagued the nation. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5063, Abraham Lincoln Elected President
February 02, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteLincoln lost his campaign for the Senate, but won the presidency two years later. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5061, Abraham Lincoln Begins His Political Career
January 31, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteAbraham Lincoln was largely self-taught, having less than one year of formal education. Yet, he became a lawyer and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Learn more about the beginning of Abraham Lincoln's career in today???s episode of 60-Second Civics. Center for Civic Education
60-Second Civics: Episode 5060, Abraham Lincoln's Early Life
January 30, 2024 08:00 - 1 minuteToday, we begin a brief series on Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States. We start by mapping his early years, which began in Kentucky on February 12, 1809. Center for Civic Education