unit 4 Notes:

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unit 4 Notes

• The Bill of Rights

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• The first 10 amendments to the Constitution,
  known as the Bill of Rights, describe the powers
  and rights of American citizens.
• -Review Who pushed for the Bill of Rights?
  Group? Individual?
• -Who was known as the father of the
  Constitution?
• -This person did a lot of work on the floor at
  the Convention, pressed for a Bill of Rights,
  supported the idea of representation based on the
  population (the Virginia Plan).

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• 2. The First Amendment to the Constitution
  protects five basic freedoms the freedom of
  religion, freedom of the press, freedom of
  assembly and freedom to petition the government.
• -Use this acronym to remember the five freedoms
  RAPPS (Religion, Assembly, Press, Petition,
  speech).
• -In the colonial days people could not choose
  their own religion. (Remember why the Pilgrims
  came?)

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• -The British were afraid of allowing the people
  to gather in groups because they feared that this
  would cause protest which would cause bad things
  to happen in the eyes of the British. ? (Boston
  Massacre and Boston Tea Party)
• -Press The British wanted to control what the
  people read, because controlling reading would
  allow them to control the thinking of the
  colonists.
• -Petitioning the government The British wanted
  to make sure that they chose all officials,
  giving the colonists this power would weaken the
  power of the government.
• -Speech If someone spoke out against the
  government, it was considered treason and they
  could be punished by law. The crime would be
  called dissent, today this is a freedom that
  Americans use unknowingly.

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• Second Amendment Right to serve in a state
  militia and to bear arms.
• 3. The Third Amendment was in response to the
  Quartering Act (the British law that required the
  American colonists to house and feed British
  soldiers which one of the leading causes of the
  American Revolution).
• -This Amendment was passed in response to the
  Quartering Act which was part of the intolerable
  Acts. These laws were passed by King George III,
  as a punishment to the colonists for the Boston
  Tea Party.

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• -Think about the following . . .
• -Was the Quartering Act a form of taxing? How?
• -Did colonists have the right to deny a soldier
  from living in their homes? -Why or why not?
• -What responsibilities would a colonist have to
  a soldier living in their home?
• -How would you feel if you were required to give
  a soldier living quarters?

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• 4. Under the Fourth Amendment if a law
  enforcement officer believes that an individual
  has committed a crime, they can ask a judge to
  issue a search warrant.
• -The reasoning behind this amendment goes back
  to the Colonial Era. The British would have
  their officials randomly search peoples homes
  even if there was not probable cause.
• -Probable cause can be determined if an officer
  feels there is a good reason to search someone.
• -In some cases, probable cause is not enough and
  the officer must obtain a search warrant.
  EXAMPLE A search of someones house.

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• A search warrant is a legal document that allows
  law enforcement officials to search a suspects
  home and take specific items they can use as
  evidence in court.
• 6. The Fifth Amendment also protects an accused
  persons right to remain silent. Throughout
  history innocent people have been threatened,
  tortured or bullied into confessing to crimes
  they did not commit.
• -This cuts down on coercion, or the use of force
  to extract a confession. If someone can remain
  silent, the need to torture them is taken away.

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• -Remaining silent is to avoid self
  incrimination.
• -Miranda Rights ? Miranda v. Arizona
• 7. The Fifth Amendment establishes eminent
  domain which is the right of the government to
  take private property, usually land, for public
  use.
• 8. The Fifth Amendment protects against double
  jeopardy which states that people who are accused
  of a crime and judged not guilty may not be put
  on trial again for the same crime (being judged
  not guilty and being put on trial again).

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• The Fifth Amendment goes further by stating that
  if anyone is going to be charged with a crime
  they must first be indicted or formally accused.
  
• 10. If an accused person asks for a jury trial,
  the trial must be speedy, public and have an
  impartial jury.
• -Why is it necessary to have public trials?
• -What does an impartial jury mean? --How do
  juries become impartial?
• -Why is it necessary for trials to be speedy?
• -Some trials are not speedy, they can last
  months, so what does speedy mean?

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• Seventh Amendment Guarantees the right to a jury
  trial in civil cases.
• 11. The Eighth Amendment covers bail which is
  money paid to the court by an accused person to
  guarantee that he or she will appear for trial.
• -What if someone can not pay their bail?
• -For wealthy people bail is set very high, if
  the person is suspected of a major crime.
• 12. The purpose of bail is to make sure that the
  accused person will appear in court for the
  trial.

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• -Bail is set high in extreme cases.
• -IN other cases it is expensive but payable.
• -If someone is considered a flight risk, bail is
  not granted.
• -After paying bail, a person is NOT considered
  free until they have had a trial.
• -The Eighth Amendment also forbids cruel and
  unusual punishment.
• -The Ninth Amendment Says that the rights
  listed in the Constitution are not the only
  rights of the American people.

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• The Tenth Amendment states that powers not
  specifically assigned to the national government
  belong to the states or to the people.
• The Next Slides will Revisit The First Amendment

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• 14. Because the Supreme Court has interpreted
  the word speech to mean art, music or even
  styles of clothing, the phrase freedom of
  speech is often replaced by the phrase freedom
  of expression.
• - Think of some different ways that you can
  express yourself. Share your answers.
• -Why are the words speech and expression
  interchangeable?
• -What are some ways that our freedom of speech
  can be limited?

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• 15.There are limits to our First Amendment
  rights. The freedoms do not allow us to do
  things that break the law.
• -This is the main way that our freedom is
  limited.
• -We are not allowed to libel someone (limit on
  freedom of the press)
• -We are not allowed to say things that damage
  someones reputation (limit on freedom of
  speech).
• -Protests must be peaceful (limit on freedom of
  assembly)
• -We are allowed to try to change our government
  but not overthrow it.

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• 16. Freedom of the press can be limited because
  no one is permitted to publish information that
  will harm other peoples reputations or endanger
  the government.
• -Does endangering the government mean
  criticizing it?
• -What are some different ways that our
  government can be endangered?
• 17. Treason includes acts that endanger our
  government and country such as giving military
  secrets to the enemy.
• 18. Libel Printing lies about someone.
• -Why do tabloids get away with publishing what
  they write about?

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• 18.Slander Speech that harms another persons
  reputation.
• -What are some examples of slander in the life
  of a teenager?
• -Do you agree or disagree that slander is a
  crime?
• 19.The Fifteenth Amendment was largely
  unsuccessful in guaranteeing African Americans
  the right to vote. Many states found legal ways
  to keep African Americans from voting.
• -The 15th Amendment was an effort to make a
  statement that all people really were equal.
• -The amendment said nothing about restricting
  certain groups from gaining the ability to vote.

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• METHODS USED TO PREVENT AFRICAN AMERICANS FROM
  VOTING.
• -POLL TAX
• -LITERACY TEST
• -GRANDFATHER CLAUSE
• A poll tax is money that is exchanged for a
  persons right to vote.
• 21.To ensure the rights of African Americans and
  other minority groups the Fourteenth Amendment
  required every state to grant its citizens equal
  protection of the laws.
• -Equal protection is supposed to cut down on
  LAWS that limit rights. Unfortunately it did not
  always cut down on practices that took peoples
  rights away.

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• -This Amendment also granted African Americans
  citizenship. During the Civil War, as slaves,
  African Americans were considered property.
• 22.According to Article I of the Constitution the
  people were to elect members of the House of
  Representatives but state legislatures were to
  choose members of the Senate. The Seventeenth
  Amendment allowed voters to elect their senators
  directly.
• -This gave voters more power and more
  freedom.-If our ability of choice is taken away
  from us we are not free.

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• -We live in a representative democracy, so our
  job is to choose the people that we want to carry
  out the work of the government for us.
• 23.The territory of Wyoming gave women the right
  to vote in 1869, and in the following years
  several other territories and states also gave
  women the vote.
• -The right to vote is called suffrage.
• -The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote
  in 1920.

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• -It was fairly safe for Wyoming to give women
  the vote because it was in the west and western
  states typically had more men. Allowing women
  the vote was more of a statement.
• -The country of New Zealand gave women the right
  to vote in the 1890s. This was close to 30
  years before the US gave women the vote.
• 24. Due process of law - Procedures established
  by law and guaranteed by the Constitution.