American Civics Project
Teacher Introduction
The American Civics Project (ACP) provides teachers with a new way to teach civics. It improves on existing programs by showing how human cooperation and the evolution of ideas have advanced civilization throughout history, ultimately culminating in America’s founding.
ACP covers all of the traditional content of American civic education while also explaining why our national story begins long before America. It explains that our thriving free market democracy and constitutional republic are results of the evolution of ideas, beliefs, and institutions driven by an ever more cooperative society. The American Civics Project therefore provides the best possible approach to teaching and learning civics because it enables students to understand all of the pieces of the story and how they work together to produce America.
Today, America is the freest and most prosperous country in the world because our institutions continue to encourage free-thought and cooperation. By telling our history from this perspective, the American Civics Project provides a moral case for our way of life, which is something that is severely lacking from conventional civics education.