Indiana Social Studies 5.C.2
The Standard
Identify and explain ideas about limited government, the rule of law, and individual rights in key colonial era documents.
2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students read short excerpts from the Mayflower Compact and the Virginia Declaration of Rights. They explain who makes the rules, who must follow them, and which freedoms are protected. They point to words in each document to support their answers.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain how the Mayflower Compact calls for agreed laws and how the Virginia Declaration of Rights sets limits on government power. They can name a protected freedom and show where the document mentions it.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think limited government means no government, or that leaders do not have to follow laws. They may assume promises of rights applied to everyone, though many people were excluded.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Match “just and equal laws,” “derived from the people,” and “freedom of the press” to rule of law, limited government, or individual rights. Explain one match.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs printed excerpt cards from both documents to sort under Shared Laws, Government Limits, and Rights.
Ask: Could a colonial governor silence a printer? Have students answer using a line from the Virginia Declaration of Rights.
Play a three-corner game: read an excerpt, and students move to Shared Laws, Government Limits, or Rights and defend their choice.
Compare a posted school rule with the Mayflower Compact's promise to follow agreed laws; ask who follows each and who was left out.
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Related Standards
- 8.C.1
Identify and explain essential ideas of constitutional government, which include limited government; rule of law; due process of law; separated and shared power...
- USH.1.1
Analyze key documents from the Founding Era and major ideas about government, individual rights, and the general welfare embedded in these documents.
- 5.C.3
Identify and explain key ideas about government as noted in the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Northwest Ordinance, United States Const...
- USG.2.3
Analyze and interpret central ideas on government, individual rights, and the common good in founding documents of the United States.
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