Florida SS.8.CG.1.2

Social Studies8th Grade

The Standard

Compare and contrast the 1838 Florida Constitution and 1868 Florida Constitution.

Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students read selected clauses and sort similarities and differences in government, voting, rights, and education. They explain how statehood and Reconstruction shaped the changes.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can identify the shared three-branch government and cite clauses as evidence. They can explain changes involving slavery, voting rights for Black men, and statewide public schools.
Common Misconceptions: Students may assume the 1838 document took effect immediately, rather than when Florida became a state in 1845. They may think the 1868 document gave voting rights to everyone, but women remained excluded.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: Write one similarity and two differences between the documents. Support each difference with a detail from the excerpts or class notes.

Lesson moves

Give pairs enlarged excerpts and three highlighters to mark voting rules, government structure, and education provisions before building a Venn diagram.
Ask students to write: Which 1868 change most altered political participation in Florida, and what evidence supports your answer?
Run a Constitution Match game where teams pair feature cards with 1838, 1868, or both, then justify each match.
Compare voting and school provisions with current Florida rules, then list one lasting idea and one later change.

Keep exploring

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