Gov: Bill of Rights

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Content Objective:

Understand the purpose of laws and government, provisions to limit power, and the ability to meet changing needs as essential ideas of the Constitution.

Language Objectives:

• Understand, learn, and use new vocabulary that is introduced and taught directly through informational text and direct instruction.
• Identify and/or summarize main ideas, facts, supporting details, and opinions in an informational and/or practical selection.
• Read and synthesize information found in various parts of charts, tables, or diagrams to reach supported conclusions.

Learning Target:

Students will explain and defend amendments to the Constitution.

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The Constitution was designed to adapt to the changing times while still preserving the basic forms and principles of government. Amendments to the Constitution may be proposed and ratified in two ways. An amendment is proposed at the national level but is ratified in a state-by-state process. One method of proposing an amendment is by a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate. The other way is for two-thirds of the states to ask Congress to call a convention. One method for ratifying a proposed amendment is for the legislatures in three-fourths of the states to vote on it.  The other method is for the states to hold special conventions and then have three-fourths of the conventions approve it.

The United States Constitution is unusually difficult to amend.  Because any amendment can be blocked by thirteen states withholding approval, in either of their two houses, amendments don’t come easy.  In fact, only 27 amendments have been ratified since the Constitution became effective, and ten of those ratifications occurred almost immediately, known as the Bill of Rights.

The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution shortly after its ratification. These amendments guarantee certain political, procedural, and property rights against infringement by the national government. The guarantees embodied in the Bill of Rights originally applied only to the national government. Under the principle of selective incorporation of these guarantees into the Fourteenth Amendment, the courts extended them to state governments, though the process was slow and uneven. In the 1920s and 1930s, First Amendment guarantees of freedom of expression were given protection from infringement by the states. The states continued to have wide discretion in criminal proceedings until the early 1960s, when most of the fair-trial rights in the Bill of Rights were given federal protection. 

Outside of the Bill of Rights there are 17 other amendments to the Constitution. The Civil War Amendments: Thirteen, Fourteen, and Fifteen, which were the result of that conflict. The Thirteenth Amendment outlawed slavery. The Fourteenth Amendment, similar to the Fifth Amendment, prohibits a state from depriving a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. The Fifteenth Amendment prohibits the government from denying a person’s right to vote on the basis of race. The later amendments, Sixteen through Twenty-seven, were added in the twentieth century. They deal with a range of topics that reflect some of the changes that occurred in American society during that period such as advances in the status of workers, African Americans, and women.

Amendments 1-10 (Bill of Rights)

1st Amendment
People have freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and the right to petition the Government. 1791.

2nd Amendment
People have the right to have a weapon to protect themselves. 1791.

3rd Amendment
Soldiers cannot take or live in a person’s house. 1791.

4th Amendment
The government cannot arrest a person or search their property unless there is “probable cause.” 1791.

5th Amendment
The government must follow the law (due process) before punishing a person. 1791.

6th Amendment
A person has the right to a fair and speedy trial by a jury. 1791.

7th Amendment
A person has the right to a jury trial for civil cases. 1791.

8th Amendment
The government cannot demand excessive bail or fines, or any cruel and unusual punishment. 1791.

9th Amendment
The Constitution does not include all of the rights of the people and the states. 1791.

10th Amendment
Any powers that the Constitution does not give to the federal government belong to the states. 1791

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Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed here are those of the students and speakers of our government classes and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of this website, institution, or organization. Any views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual.