a teacher’s guide with historical background and...

© 2010, 2014

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A Teacher’s Guide withHistorical Background and

Lesson Plans

© 2010, 2014© 2010

Table of Contents

Historical Background ....................................................................................................................................... 2

Glossary ................................................................................................................................................................. 7

Time Line of Events ............................................................................................................................................ 10

“Translating” the Bill of Rights ....................................................................................................................... 13

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 13

Objectives .................................................................................................................................................... 13

Standards of Learning ................................................................................................................................ 13

Materials ...................................................................................................................................................... 13

Strategy ......................................................................................................................................................... 13

Lesson Extension ........................................................................................................................................ 14

Amendment Cards ..................................................................................................................................... 15

Worksheet: The Bill of Rights Graphic Organizer ................................................................................. 17

Teacher Answer Key for Worksheet: The Bill of Rights Graphic Organizer ....................................... 18

Worksheet: The Bill of Rights on the Likert Scale .................................................................................. 19

The Amendments in Action .............................................................................................................................. 20

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 20

Objectives .................................................................................................................................................... 20


Materials ...................................................................................................................................................... 20

Strategy ......................................................................................................................................................... 20


Influences and Key Court Case Descriptions Chart .............................................................................. 22

Amendment Summaries ............................................................................................................................ 26

Evaluation Activity .............................................................................................................................................. 27

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 27

Objectives .................................................................................................................................................... 27


Materials ...................................................................................................................................................... 27

Strategy ......................................................................................................................................................... 27


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The Bill of RightsHistorical Background

The founders of our republic—the men who met in Philadelphia in 1787 and drafted our Constitution—did not write the Bill of Rights. In fact, the majority of the delegates who met there agreed that adding a bill

of rights to the Constitution was unnecessary and perhaps even dangerous. That is pretty remarkable, considering that today most citizens are probably more familiar with the ten constitutional amendments we call the Bill of Rights than with the Constitution itself. As it turned out, those Constitutional Convention delegates who op-posed a bill of rights were out of step with most of the people they represented.

The generation of Americans that created and ratified the Constitution were the same generation that had fought the Revolutionary War to throw off what they considered a tyrannical government. We are often taught that the Revolution was about “taxation without representation,” but in fact, it was much more than that. Many Americans were angry about a whole list of ways in which the British government infringed on their rights. The Declaration of Independence listed twenty-seven different ways in which Americans felt their rights had been violated, including:

• The king had refused to approve some laws that colonial legislatures thought were important.• The king had interfered with colonial legislatures by dissolving or ending their sessions, by hampering the election of delegates, and by making it difficult for them to gather and meet.• The king had obstructed the administration of justice by refusing to allow colonies to have judicial authority and by making certain that judges were biased towards the government’s position.• The king had appointed dozens of new royal officials to regulate and control the colonies.• Standing armies had been stationed in the colonies to control the king’s subjects; the king had imposed military law over civil law in the colonies, had quartered troops on civilian property, and had protected the military and other royal officials who committed atrocities in America by preventing them from being tried in colonial courts.• The king had damaged the colonial economy by restricting free trade. • The king had deprived the colonists of trial by jury and transported them to Great Britain to be tried. • The king had abolished English law in some provinces and had instead instituted absolute rule.• The king had taken away the royal charters that guaranteed colonists the rights of free-born Englishmen.• The king had raised an army and hired mercenaries to wage war against the colonies.

In the American colonies, settlers had developed a sense of wide-ranging rights. They varied somewhat from colony to colony, but they shared a strong set of common assumptions, especially the idea that they all shared in the “rights of Englishmen.” These rights were protected by the “unwritten” British constitution, which included common law traditions and precedents, government institutions, and key documents such as the Magna Carta (1215) and the English Bill of Rights (1689). But well before the English Bill of Rights came along, colonists had gained a great deal of experience specifying their rights in colonial charters and in statutes such as Maryland’s 1649 Act of Toleration.

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By the time of the Revolution, American political thinkers were linking established rights to the ideals of the European Enlightenment. The notion of the social contract—that governments derive their powers from the consent of their people—helped justify revolution. And the idea that individuals are vested with natural rights was enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, with colonists declaring that it was necessary to “dissolve the political bands” with Great Britain, because its government had violated the “unalienable rights” of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The social contract, they claimed, was broken, because the king had become a threat to natural rights, rather than their protector.

In 1787, these grievances were still very much in the minds of Americans who had experienced a tyrannical government and did not want to replace it with another one just like it. Many believed that the way to prevent tyranny—to guarantee that the government could not infringe on the rights of the people—was to have a bill of rights.

By 1787, Americans had experience writing constitutions. South Carolina and New Hampshire had each written and adopted two constitutions by the time of the Philadelphia convention. John Adams had written and published a pamphlet on writing constitutions. Most states had created bills of rights as part of forming their state governments, believing that they established boundaries that prevented government from infringing on the people’s natural rights.

George Mason of Virginia was a strong proponent for a bill of rights. He, like many Americans, believed that government’s natural tendency was to make itself stronger over time and infringe on the rights of the people. The only way to protect against that, he believed, was to articulate a bill of rights. Mason was the principal author of Virginia’s Declaration of Rights. As the crisis between the colonies and Great Britain intensified during the 1770s, Virginians elected delegates to meet in a series of conventions, discuss the issues, and determine what course the colony should take. The Fifth Virginia Convention met in Williamsburg during the spring of 1776, and on May 15, they instructed Virginia’s delegates to the Continental Con-gress to vote for independence. Then, under Mason’s leadership, the Fifth Virginia Convention crafted a state constitution and bill of rights.

The Fifth Virginia Convention selected a committee to draft the bill. James Madison, whom today we con-sider the “father of the Constitution,” was on that committee—so was Edmund Randolph, who would later become the first attorney general of the United States. But George Mason was the most influential member. His draft of the Virginia Declaration of Rights was adopted on June 12, 1776, with very few changes. The document contained sixteen statements, or principles, on which Virginia would form a government:

• That individuals were vested with natural rights and from these individuals—the people—derived the power of government• That the purpose of government was the safety and security of the community• That no individual had a right to inherited titles, and that legislative, executive, and judicial power should be separated• That elections should be free and voters not coerced• That laws could not be suspended without the consent of the people’s representatives• That all are entitled to fair trials with juries• That excessive bail, excessive fines, cruel and unusual punishment were unacceptable• That an individual’s property could not be searched or seized without due process of the law• That the freedom of the press was guaranteed

George Mason, by Dominic Boudet (1811). Courtesy of Gunston Hall.

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• That a standing army was “dangerous to liberty” • That the people of the state should practice “justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue” in order

to insure the blessings of free government and liberty• That the people were entitled to freedom of religion

Mason ’s Virginia Declaration of Rights would become a model for other states, and even other countries. But ten years later, when Mason proposed that the delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention craft a bill of rights, he found that there was little support among the representatives assembled in Philadelphia.

When individual states wrote a bill of rights, they often began by echoing the statement from the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal”—and that was a problem. First, the Declaration of Independence was not revered in the same way in which we celebrate it today. The delegates at the Constitutional Convention believed that the Declaration had served a specific purpose: to make a clear statement about why it was legal and proper for the colonies to declare their independence. The Declaration, they believed, had little bearing on what kind of national government should be established now that independence had been secured. Second, and more important, southern representatives at the Constitutional Convention worked diligently to keep out any language that might threaten the institution of slavery. Any broad statement of equality would certainly be used as justifica-tion to challenge the legal basis of the enslavement of African Americans. Southerners would not agree to a bill of rights that included any statement of equality for all men.

A statement of equality and an end to slavery was one point that George Mason favored, and Mason himself was a slaveowner. He argued, unsuccessfully, that the Constitution should take steps to end slavery. It was, Mason

felt, not just wrong because it held African Americans in bondage; it was also incon-sistent with the republican ideals of the new nation. Mason believed that slavery had a disastrous effect on slaveowners themselves. He described slavery as a “slow Poison, which is daily contaminating the Minds & Morals of our People,” and which turned every slave master into a “petty Tyrant” (George Mason. Papers of George Mason, 1725-1792: 1749-1778. [University of North Carolina Press, 1970] p. 173). But Mason’s southern

colleagues would not agree. They successfully lobbied to keep statements limiting slavery out of the Constitution. They even won an agreement that Congress could not enact any laws restricting the importation of enslaved Africans before 1808.

Howard Chandler Christy’s 1940 painting “The Signing of the Constitution” hangs in the U.S. Capitol. Courtesy of the Architect of the Capitol, Washington, D.C.

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There was also a very strong commitment to “states’ rights” among the delegates. Individual states had written declarations of rights, and as Roger Sherman of Connecticut pointed out, a new constitution would not repeal them. Those declarations were still in force. Yet some delegates, such as Mason, argued that a national bill of rights was also necessary to limit the power of the federal government, but his fellow delegates would not agree to a bill of rights.

Most delegates at the Constitutional Convention were persuaded that since all rights were vested in the people and Americans understood that principle, there was no need to list them specifically. In fact, it might be dangerous to list specific rights: What would happen if one or more were left out? It was impossible to create a bill of rights that listed all of the people’s rights. So, if the constitution only listed specific rights that the federal government could not infringe, in the future the federal government could attempt to deny any right that was not listed. A bill of rights, these delegates argued, was too restrictive.

It became increasingly clear that George Mason was losing the argument. The work of hammering out the

form of a new government and the rules by which it would operate had turned into a monumental task. Every detail required debate. Delegates were constantly negotiating. Tempers flared. Deals were struck. It was time-consuming. The delegates at the Constitutional Convention were tired. A bill of rights would inevitably require more time, more negotiation, and certainly more debate. Quite simply, as the delegates got close to finalizing the

Constitution, they could not conceive the thought of also tackling all the issues that would inevitably be raised in negotiating a bill of rights.

Though the delegates to the Constitutional Convention did not want to debate whether there should be a bill of rights and what should be in it, their constituents did. Almost as soon as the text of the Constitution was released, communities all over the young United States were arguing over the work of the Convention—and there was a lot of debate.

It is hard for Americans today to think of a time when we did not have a Constitution and that the form of our government was a question, not a certainty. Yet all through the fall, winter, and spring of 1787 and 1788, Americans could not agree on the Constitution. Those who supported ratification called themselves Federalists. Several who had been instru-mental in the design of the document began writing articles—eighty-five in total—in support of the Constitution. The articles written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay were collected and published as The Federalist. Today we call their work The Federalist Papers, and they describe the intent and purpose of the Constitution.

The voices against ratification of the Constitution came from the anti-Federalists, who worried that the Constitution placed too much power in the national government. They argued that the Constitution would create a tyrannical government as bad as or worse than the British monarchy and Parliament. Anti-Federalists wanted guarantees against un-bridled federal power. They argued against adoption for a whole series of reasons—but one important issue was that the Constitution lacked a bill of rights. One of the ways to prevent a new tyranny, they believed, was to have a bill of rights enshrined in the Constitution itself, and they argued that the Constitution should not be ratified because it did not have one.

Nine states had to ratify the Constitution for it to become law. Delaware was first. Its convention ratified the

Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay wrote The Federalist.

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Constitution on December 7, 1787, and Pennsylvania, New Jersey Georgia, and Connecticut followed suit fairly quickly. But in order to be effective, the Constitution needed the support of the two largest states, Massachusetts and Virginia. In Massachusetts, ratification faced strong opposition from anti-Federalists. It seemed that the Massachusetts Convention might not ratify the Constitution at all, until John Hancock, governor and president of the ratification convention, offered a compromise: Ratify the Constitution with a list of proposed amendments. It worked. The Massachu-setts Convention narrowly ratified the Constitution and proposed nine amendments designed mostly to limit the power of the national government.

The pattern was set. Maryland ratified in April 1788, and proposed thirteen amendments. South Carolina ratified in late May. Now only one more state needed to ratify. But not everyone was in agreement: In Virginia, opposition was strong, and led by respected revolutionaries such as Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, and George Mason. The Virginia convention examined the Constitution line by line and phrase by phrase. In the end, Virginia narrowly ratified the Constitution by ten votes on June 25, 1788, but delegates proposed amendments that included a twenty-article declaration of rights, and twenty other amendments. (Virginians would later learn that theirs was the tenth state to ratify, not the ninth: New Hampshire had voted on June 21.) When the state of New York ratified on July 26, it, too, called for a bill of rights.

The push for a bill of rights was growing among the states. Action was needed—at the federal level—and fast. The first Congress of the United States met in New York in March 1789. On September 25, 1789, responding to the call from the ratification conventions, Congress passed twelve proposed amendments to the Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification. The language was elegant and concise—more concise than the twenty-article bill of rights proposed by Virginia. Ten of the twelve proposed amendments were ratified and became our Bill of Rights—a guarantee that the government formed by “We the People” cannot take away the rights that are invested in each and every one of us.

But still, we almost did not have the Bill of Rights. It was close. And although the first ten amendments went into force in 1791, it was not until after the Civil War that they took on the importance that is familiar to us today. Through the first six decades of the nineteenth century, the Bill of Rights did not affect state governments. The federal government, for example, could not make a law establishing religion, but several states did so as late as the 1830s. The Supreme Court, in its early years, prevented the federal government from enforcing the Bill of Rights in the states. It was only with the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, guaranteeing all Americans due process and equal protection of the laws, that the Bill of Rights was applied evenly across the country. The Supreme Court has gradually used the doctrine of “incorporation” to require state laws to respect all constitutional rights. Overall, the Bill of Rights has more national significance today than when it was first passed.

In those days of debating the Constitution, there was a good chance that Americans would form a national government without a bill of rights. Have you ever wondered what the United States would be like without the Bill of Rights?

“The Federal Edifice,” Massachusetts Centinel (Boston), August 2, 1788. Courtesy of the Library of Congress [LC-USZ62-45591].

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Glossary

adopt/adoption—to accept formally and put into action.

amendment(s)—a change or addition made to a law or legal document.

anti-Federalist(s)—an opponent of a strengthened national government; someone who opposed the U.S. Con-stitution during the debate over its ratification.

assembly—a group that meets to debate and vote on proposed laws.

article—a piece of writing, such as a story in a newspaper. An article may also be a section of a document, as in the articles of the Constitution.

Articles of Confederation—the formal agreement that established a limited national government among the thirteen original states during the American Revolution. The Articles, ratified in 1781, were later replaced by the U.S. Constitution.

bail—payment specified by a court to allow a person accused of a crime to leave jail until his or her trial.

Bill of Rights—the first ten amendments added to the U.S. Constitution in 1791 that protect certain individual rights and privileges, including freedom of religion, speech, press, and assembly; the right to a speedy jury trial in criminal cases; and protection against excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment.

capital—in crime, an offense such as murder or kidnapping, so serious that it carries the possibility of a death sentence.

charter—an official government document that grants, guarantees, or shows the limits of the rights and duties of the group to which it is given.

citizen—person who lives in a city or town and owes loyalty to a government and is protected by it.

clause—a distinct article in a formal document.

colonist—a person who lives in a newly established settlement.

compromise—a settlement of differences in which each side gives something up in order to reach agreement.

confederation—an association of political entities, such as states, towns, or tribes, for a common purpose.

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Congress—with a lowercase c, a formal meeting of delegates for discussion and usually action on some question; with an uppercase C, the main lawmaking body of the U.S. government, composed of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Constitution—the supreme law of the United States government, establishing the structure and powers of the government and the rights of its citizens.

convention—a formal assembly or gathering of persons for some common object; also can mean a formal agree-ment between states or nations.

debate—a discussion between two sides that follows certain rules of procedure.

Declaration of Independence—document in which the American colonies formally declared independence from Great Britain in 1776.

delegate(s)—an official representative.

due process—following a set of prescribed procedures in the legal system.

enumerate—to specify item by item.

federal—describing a form of government in which two or more states form a political union, while maintaining independence in internal affairs.

Federalist(s)—a supporter of a strengthened national government; someone who supported the U.S. Constitu-tion during the debate over its ratification.

grand jury—a group of community members assembled to hear criminal accusations. If a grand jury determines there is reasonable evidence that a crime has been committed, then it can issue an indictment, which leads to a trial to decide whether the accused is guilty of the accusation.

grievance(s)—a situation which is felt to be oppressive and grounds for complaint.

House of Representatives—the lower house of the U.S. Congress, in which lawmakers serve two-year terms. The number of representatives from each state is based on its population.

inflicted—put upon; imposed upon.

legislature—a body of persons invested with the power to make laws for a country or state.

militia—a military force raised from the civilian population; citizens banded together in a military unit.

petition—(noun) a solemn, written or formal request, often signed by many people and presented to a political authority; historically, a formal document presented to the king or queen for approval; (verb) to make such a request.

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quartered/quartering—to put soldiers into quarters or lodgings; to station, place or lodge in a particular place.

ratified (ratify)—settled, confirmed; formally approved.

Revolutionary War—the war for American independence from Great Britain, 1775 –1783.

search and seizure—officially looking through someone’s possessions, such as their house, car, or workplace, and confiscating items. The Fourth Amendment protects American citizens from such searches unless the officer has a search warrant (justified permission or authority). See also unwarrantable.

Senate—the upper house of the U.S. Congress, in which each state is represented by two senators, who serve six-year terms.

tyranny—a government in which absolute power rests in a single ruler; oppressive power exerted by government.

unwarrantable—not justifiable; unreasonable or without good cause. See also search and seizure.

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Time Line of Events 1215 Magna Carta, or “Great Charter,” agreed to by King John of England.

1607 Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in North America, is founded.

1619 First representative assembly in mainland English colonies meets in Virginia.

1621 The House of Commons presents James I with Protestation, asserting its right to free discussion.

1628 Parliament adopts the Petition of Right.

1630 Massachusetts Bay colony is founded.

1641 The General Court of Massachusetts Bay colony enacts a statement of rights under the title of “The Body of Liberties of the Massachusetts Colonie in New England.”

1647 Levellers, who sought to reform the English government, present first draft of an Agreement of the People as model of a written constitution for England.

1651 Thomas Hobbes publishes Leviathan, which advocates the theory of a social contract.

ca. 1680 John Locke begins drafting his Two Treatises of Government. The second of the two treatises discusses a society based on natural rights.

1683 The New York assembly adopts the Charter of Libertyes and Priviledges (cancelled by James II in 1685).

1689 The Convention Parliament presents the Declaration of Rights to William and Mary.

1690 John Locke’ s Two Treatises of Government is first published.

1701 William Penn grants Charter of Privileges to Pennsylvania.

1720 John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon begin publishing Cato’s Letters.

1748 Montesquieu publishes De L’esprit des Lois (“The Spirit of Laws”).

1765 Parliament adopts the Stamp Act, provoking colonial resistance and the calling of the Stamp Act Congress.

1774 Parliament enacts the Coercive Acts, punishing Massachusetts for its defiance; twelve colonies send deputies to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

1776 Virginia enacts a Declaration of Rights that guarantees freedom of the press and religion, trial by jury, and restrictions on unreasonable searches and cruel and unusual punishments.

1776 The Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Continental Congress.

1777 New York adopts a constitution without a separate declaration of rights; in November, Congress sends the Articles of Confederation to the states.

“John Locke, Esqr.” (1738) The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

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1779 Thomas Jefferson drafts “An Act for establishing religious Freedom” for the Virginia Assembly.

1781 The Articles of Confederation are ratified; they establish certain rules that bind the thirteen individual states together as a union.

1783 The Treaty of Paris ends the Revolutionary War.

1787 On September 17, the Constitutional Convention approves the Constitution.

1788 The U.S. Constitution takes effect when New Hampshire approves it on June 21.

Virginia ratifies but proposes a lengthy list of amendments for the consideration of Congress.

1789 The Supreme Court is created by the Constitution. Other federal courts, left by the Constitution to Congress to determine, are set up by the Judiciary Act of 1789 passed on September 24.

James Madison publicly affirms his support for amendments and introduces them to the House of Representatives.

New Jersey becomes the first state to ratify the amendments.

1791 On December 15, the Bill of Rights is established after Virginia ratifies it.

1798 The Sedition Act makes it illegal for anyone to criticize the president or Congress in a way that is intended to arouse the hatred of the American people or encourage the nation’s enemies to plot against it.

1803 The Supreme Court acts against Congress in Marbury v. Madison and establishes the Court’s power to strike down any act of Congress that violates the Constitution.

1808 The United States government abolishes the importation of enslaved Africans. However, the ban is widely circumvented. Domestic slave trading continues until the end of the Civil War.

1833 The British Parliament abolishes slavery across the entire British Empire.

1857 The Dred Scott decision is handed down by the Supreme Court. The Court rules that Dred Scott, an enslaved servant who had sued for his freedom based on having lived in a free state, is not a citizen, and therefore has no constitutional rights and cannot sue.

1868 The Fourteenth Amendment is ratified. It entitles all persons born or naturalized in the United States to citizenship and equal protection under the laws of the United States.

1877 The period of Reconstruction ends in the southern United States, twelve years after the end of the Civil War. “Jim Crow,” a term used to describe the rules, customs, and laws of segregating black people, arises after Reconstruction ends, and continues until the mid-1960s.

1896 The Supreme Court’s decision in Plessy v. Ferguson codifies “separate but equal” public facilities and legalizes “Jim Crow”—a system of racial segregation. Segregation remains the law of the land until landmark court cases reverse Plessy in the 1950s and 1960s.

Dred Scott. Courtesy of the Library of Congress [LC-USZ62-5092].

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1920 The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is formed and dedicates itself to holding the government to the promises of the Bill of Rights.

1962 In Engel v. Vitale, U.S. Supreme Court rules that school prayer violates the First Amendment.

1963 In Edwards v. South Carolina, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that demonstrators are protected by the First Amendment.

1964 The Twenty-Fourth Amendment abolishes the poll tax, which originally had been instituted in eleven southern states after Reconstruction to make it difficult for poor blacks to vote.

President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion, or national origin. The law also provides the federal government with the powers to enforce desegregation.

1965 Congress passes the Voting Rights Act of 1965, making it easier for southern blacks to register to vote. Literacy tests, poll taxes, and other such requirements that were used to restrict black voting were made illegal.

1966 The “Miranda rights” are established by the Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona, which ruled that Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination include an accused criminal’s “right to remain silent” and to have an attorney present during police questioning. The reading of such rights to an arrested person is called the “Miranda warning.”

1969 The Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District case goes to the U.S. Supreme Court; the Court’s ruling upholds First Amendment rights by stating that three students wearing anti- Vietnam War armbands were exercising free speech.

1982 Lawyer Victor Quilici sues the city of Morton Grove, Illinois, over the possession of handguns. In Quilici v. the Village of Morton Grove, the Seventh Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeal upholds a ruling that the village’s ordinance against the possession of handguns is constitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear the case, allowing the lower court’s ruling to stand.

1989 The U.S. Supreme Court case, Texas v. Johnson, declares that the burning of the flag is a form of expression similar to that of free speech, and is therefore protected by the First Amendment.

2000 In Florida v. J. L., the Supreme Court rules that police do not have the right to search people or property without reasonable suspicion, upholding the Fourth Amendment.

2008 The Supreme Court overturns a Washington, D.C. law banning all handguns for violating the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

The Supreme Court building, 1936. Courtesy of the Library of Congress [LC-USF34-005615-E].

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“Translating” the Bill of Rights

INTRODUCTIONThe Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution) was proposed by Congress on September

25, 1789, and ratified on December 15, 1791. The Bill’s main purpose was to protect the rights of citizens from the unchecked power of the federal government. The Bill of Rights lays out a set of basic rights that are guaranteed to all citizens.

OBJECTIVESAs a result of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Summarize the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution.2. Identify and explain the tenets of the Bill of Rights.3. Evaluate the importance of each amendment today.

STANDARDS OF LEARNINGThis lesson meets the National Standards of Learning in the areas of historical comprehension, analysis and

decision making.

MATERIALSAmendment CardsThe Bill of Rights Graphic OrganizerTeacher Answer Key for the Bill of Rights Graphic OrganizerThe Bill of Rights on the Likert Scale (for Lesson Extension)

STRATEGY1. Divide students into pairs or groups of three. Give each group two “amendment cards,” each containing one of the first ten amendments. Within their groups, students should discuss the meaning of the amendment.

Ask students to dissect the amendment by pulling out key phrases and concepts and discussing their meanings. (Note: More than one group should receive the First Amendment, since it contains several rights). 2. Circulate to ensure that each group has gained an understanding of each amendment, and help students define key terms.3. Each pair or group should present their summaries to the class for both of their assigned amendments.4. During the presentations, students should fill in their graphic organizers so that they have summaries for each of the first ten amendments to the Constitution.5. After all of the presentations, review each of the first ten amendments with students, and have them check their answers in the graphic organizers. As you review each amendment, encourage students to provide an example or cite a specific court case that relates to it.

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LESSON EXTENSIONUsing the Likert scale handout, have students examine each of the ten amendments and rank them as “Very

Important Today,” “Somewhat Important Today,” “Somewhat Unimportant Today,” or “Not Important Today.” Students can either work individually or in pairs. After students have completed ranking each amendment, have them explain their rankings.

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Amendment Cards

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a present-ment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impar-tial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establish-ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the se-curity of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

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Amendment VII

In Suits at common law, where the value in contro-versy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

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The Bill of Rights Graphic Organizer

First

Second

Third

Fourth

Fifth

Sixth

Seventh

Eighth

Ninth

Tenth

Amendment Right(s) Summary (What Does It Mean?)

Directions: Use this chart to record ideas from your group’s reading and your classmates’ presentations.

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Amendment Key Words or Phrases Summary (What Does It Mean?)

Teacher Answer Key for the Bill of Rights Graphic Organizer (Summaries of Amendments)

Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition

You can say or write what you want. You can choose to fol-low any religion. You can gather in groups. You can speak out against the government, and the government can’t do anything about it.

First

Right to keep and bear arms Sometimes our country goes to war and citizens must serve as soldiers. Citizens have a right to own guns to pro-tect themselves.

Second

Right not to house soldiers Soldiers do not have the right to go to your house and ask to live and eat there.

Third

Freedom from unwarrantable search and seizure

If someone wants to come into your house to search through your personal belongings, he or she needs to get a search warrant. That person also must give a good reason for their search and explain what they seek.

Fourth

Rights of people accused of crimes

For a capital crime, a grand jury must decide if there is enough evidence to charge you with the crime. You cannot be charged or tried more than once for a crime. While your case is being tried in court, you don’t have to say anything against yourself. You are allowed to have a fair trial. The government must pay you for any belongings that they take away from you. Military trials have different rules.

Fifth

Right to a speedy jury trial in a criminal case

If you are charged with a crime, your trial should take place as soon as possible. Your trial must not be held secretly but in public. At the trial, a jury will decide if you are guilty or not guilty. You must be told exactly what you are accused of and who is making the charges against you. In court, you have the right to tell what happened. You can have a lawyer and witnesses to help you.

Sixth

Right to a jury trial in a civil case You can have a jury settle civil cases that may involve large sums of money. A case cannot be decided more than once.

Seventh

Protection from unfair bail, fines and punishments

You must be treated fairly in your punishment. You shouldn’t have to pay too much money. The government must treat you humanely.

Eighth

Reservations of rights of people This list of ten amendments does not include every right of citizens. The government cannot take away from the people any of these rights or any other rights not on this list.

Ninth

Powers reserved to states and people

The states have the power to do as they choose unless the Constitution says that they do not have that power.

Tenth

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The Bill of Rights on the Likert ScaleDirections: Review each of the ten amendments. Then, using this scale, circle the number that you think applies to each amendment.

First

Second

Third

Fourth

Fifth

Sixth

Seventh

Eighth

Ninth

Tenth

Very Important Today

SomewhatImportant Today

SomewhatUnimportant Today

Not Important Today

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1

1

1

2

2

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2

2

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2

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The Amendments in Action

INTRODUCTIONThe first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution protect many of our most precious rights as Americans, but

where did those rights originate? The Bill of Rights had many influences, including such legislation as the Magna Carta (1215), the Petition of Right (1628), and the English Bill of Rights (1689). In fact, three of the amendments in the Bill of Rights reveal similar rights that are described in these earlier documents. However, the Bill of Rights is also a “living document,” like the Constitution. Many important court cases have interpreted the meaning of the rights described in the first ten amendments.

In this activity, students will read brief summaries of legislation that either influenced the Bill of Rights or serves as examples of the Bill of Rights in action. Then, they will use their knowledge to answer questions for their team in a “quiz show.”

OBJECTIVESAs a result of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Describe early influences on the writing of the Bill of Rights.2. Identify court cases that have cited rights as described in the Bill of Rights.3. Explain how the Bill of Rights has been defined over time.

STANDARDS OF LEARNINGThis lesson meets the National Standards of Learning in areas of historical comprehension, analysis, and decision making.

MATERIALSAmendment SummariesInfluences and Key Court Case Descriptions Chart

STRATEGY1. Divide the class into two teams. Working together, students will each receive two handouts: Amendment Summaries, and the Influences and Key Court Case Descriptions Chart. Explain that the Amendment

Summaries handout will remind them of what they studied in Lesson One (or will serve as a reference sheet if they did not do Lesson One), and that they are to read and discuss the Influences and Key Court Cases Chart. This handout contains short descriptions of key court cases that further defined the Bill of Rights and of

documents that influenced the Bill of Rights. Allow time for both teams to review and discuss the descriptions. 2. On a chalkboard or whiteboard, write “First Amendment,” “Second Amendment,” and so forth until all ten amendments are written. 3. Randomly call out each court case that defined, or each document that influenced, the Bill of Rights. Each team must send one member to the board to write down the name called out under the appropriate amendment. The team that first gets a correct answer earns a point. The team with the most points wins.

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4. After each item on the list has been correctly classified, direct students to copy the information on the board on their Amendment Summaries, if they have not already done so.5. Lead a class discussion on how the Bill of Rights has been defined over time. Ask students to use their charts to help them.

LESSON EXTENSIONHave each student create a rhyme, poem, drawing, or other visual to illustrate one of the first ten amendments.

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Influences and Key Court Case Descriptions Chart

The Magna Carta is a written agreement describing the powers and rights of the king of England and his nobles. It becomes the foundation for English govern-ment and the common law, similar to the Constitution’s place as the supreme law of the land for the United States. The Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of due process is one American right that can be traced to the Magna Carta.

England’s Parliament passes a law establishing a number of rights for English subjects. The law prevents the king from taxing without the permission of Parliament, declaring martial law, and imprisoning people without an explanation of the charges against them (through a writ of habeas corpus). It also bans the quar-tering of troops in people’s homes against their wishes, a measure that would later be included in the Third Amendment.

Puritan leaders in the Massachusetts Bay colony create the first code of law and declaration of rights in the American colonies. The Body of Liberties lists one hundred rights, many of which can be found in the Bill of Rights, including: prohibition against being tried for the same crime twice, and against govern-ment taking property without compensation (Fifth Amendment); the right to a lawyer and a jury trial (Sixth Amendment); and no “barbarous or cruel” punish-ments (Eighth Amendment).

The colony of Maryland enacts a law that recognizes the right of people to have different religious beliefs, as long as they are Christian. The law also calls for serious punishments, even death, for publicly criticizing another’s religious beliefs. While the law punished free speech, it is considered an important step for freedom of religion in America. The English Parliament passes a Bill of Rights specifying the conditions of royal rule after the Glorious Revolution. The document puts the monarchy under Parliament’s power and establishes free elections, the right of free speech in Parliament, and the right to petition the king or queen. It also bans cruel and unusual punishment and includes the right to bear arms for self-defense.

The colony of Pennsylvania enacts a revised framework of government that limits government and describes rights of the colonists. Religious liberty is expanded under the charter, with the pledge that as long as the people believe in one God and are loyal to the colony’s civil government, they are free to hold any religious beliefs.

Parliament passes the Quartering Act, which requires that colonists provide housing, food, and cider for British troops in North America. Parliament re-news the Act twice, despite colonists’ objections.

Virginia enacts a Declaration of Rights that guarantees freedom of the press and religion, trial by jury, and restrictions on unreasonable searches and cruel and unusual punishments.

1215 Magna Carta

1628 Petition of Right

1641 Massachusetts Body of Liberties

1649 Maryland Act of Toleration

1689 English Bill of Rights

1701 Pennsylvania Charter of Liberties

1765 Quartering Act

1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights

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While the American Revolution continues, the Continental Congress approves the Articles of Confederation as the first constitution of the United States of America. Under the Articles, unanimous votes are required to adopt new policies, and most power continues to reside with the states.

Virginia enacts a law, written by Thomas Jefferson, that goes further than any earlier attempt to expand religious freedom. The statute creates a separation between church and state, and allows citizens to worship as they please.

The Constitution distributes power among three branches of government and shares power with the states but does not include a bill of rights. The Constitution takes effect in 1788 once two-thirds of the states have ratified it.

The first U.S. Congress proposes twelve amendments to the Constitution. Ten of the twelve proposed amendments are adopted by a majority of states by 1791. The Bill of Rights enumerates guaranteed freedoms for individuals and places limits on government’s power.

The Sedition Act makes it illegal for anyone to criticize the president or Congress in a way that is intended to arouse the hatred of the American people or en-courage the nation’s enemies to plot against it. The law automatically expired when the president, John Adams, left office in 1801.

The Supreme Court declares a law unconstitutional for the first time in Marbury v. Madison. The practice of “judicial review,” or deciding whether or not new laws conflict with the Constitution, eventually becomes the most important function of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court rules that the federal government is allowed to create a national bank since it has “implied powers” not mentioned in the Constitution. Opponents of a national bank argue unsuccessfully that the Tenth Amendment means that banks should continue to operate only on the state level.

The owner of a wharf (pier or platform) in Baltimore sues the city for damaging its property by allowing debris to float onto his property and pile up, damaging his business. He claims that the Fifth Amendment called for him to receive “just compensation” because his private property was being used for public purposes. The Supreme Court disagrees, ruling that the Bill of Rights only protects citizens against actions by the federal government, not state governments.

Elijah Lovejoy, editor of an antislavery newspaper in Illinois, attempts to stop a proslavery mob from destroying his printing press. Lovejoy is shot and killed. Without the protection of the government, the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of the press is not enough to protect the rights of unpopular editors.

1777 Articles of Confederation

1786 Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

1787 U.S. Constitution

1789 Bill of Rights proposed

1798 Sedition Act

1803 Marbury v. Madison

1819 McCulloch v. Maryland

1833 Barron v. Baltimore

1837 Mob kills abolitionist editor

© 2010, 2014

Dred Scott, an enslaved servant, sues for his freedom based on having lived in a free state. The Supreme Court, however, denies Scott by ruling that Scott, as a slave, is not a citizen, therefore has no constitutional rights and cannot sue. While the Court denies Scott his First Amendment rights to petition the gov-ernment, liberty, and due process, it uses its power of judicial review to declare a law passed by Congress unconstitutional for the first time since the Marbury v. Madison case in 1803.

Charles Schenck, arrested for violating the Espionage Act in handing out a leaflet urging Americans to resist the military draft, is unsuccessful in overturning the law. The Supreme Court rules that the wartime act is legal because speech presenting a “clear and present danger” is not protected under the Constitution.

In a case involving a man accused of supporting the violent overthrow of the government, the Supreme Court rules that the Fourteenth Amendment requires states to respect First Amendment rights, including freedom of speech, assembly, press, petition, and religion.

In Near v. Minnesota, the Supreme Court determines that a state cannot exercise “prior restraint” by censoring controversial writings before their publication. The Near decision becomes a cornerstone of First Amendment law.

Reversing earlier decisions, the Supreme Court rules that requiring students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance is a violation of their First Amendment rights of free speech.

The Court narrowly affirms that state money for parochial school transportation does not violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment. Issues of the separation of church and state continue for decades.

An American has his citizenship taken away because he had briefly deserted the military while serving in World War II. The Court rules that this violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment because it amounts to “the total destruction of the individual’s status in organized society.”

Police searching for a fugitive force their way into a house without a search warrant. They do not find the person they are looking for but charge the occupant with an unrelated crime. The Court rules that police had conducted an illegal search, so the evidence they found could not be used against the defendant in court. The decision extends the Fourth Amendment protections against “unreasonable searches and seizures” to criminal cases in state courts.

Prayer in public schools is ruled unconstitutional for violating the First Amend-ment’s Establishment clause, separating church and state.

The Supreme Court rules that according to the Sixth Amendment, defendants in criminal cases have the right to free legal counsel if they cannot afford to pay a lawyer.

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1857 Dred Scott case

1919 Free speech in wartime

1925 Bill of Rights applied to states

1931 Censoring speech before it is made

1943 Pledge of Allegiance

1947 Busing for religious school students

1958 Losing citizenship as punishment

1961 Unreasonable searches

1962 Prayer in school

1963 Right to counsel

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A public official in Alabama sues the New York Times for running an adver-tisement that he said was libelous, that is, untruthful and harmful to his reputation. The Court rules against the official, saying that he would have to prove that the defendants knew what they said was false and meant it to be malicious. The Court’s decision makes it much harder for public figures, such as elected officials or celebrities, to prove a libel charge.

In striking down a Connecticut law as unconstitutional, the Supreme Court stated that a “right to privacy” is implied by several Constitutional amendments, and that the Ninth Amendment allows for the existence of rights not specifically mentioned in the document.

A Supreme Court majority rules that the Fifth Amendment protects an accused person’s “right to remain silent” and to have a lawyer present while police ques-tion him or her. Since the ruling, police read suspected criminals a list of their constitutional rights when making an arrest.

The Court concludes that three students wearing anti-Vietnam War armbands were exercising free speech. Since their actions were not dangerous, their sus-pensions from school are ruled unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court allows the New York Times to publish the “Pentagon Papers,” which gave secret information about the Vietnam War, because it does not pose an immediate risk to national security. The Court rules that President Nixon’s attempt to stop publication is unconstitutional “prior restraint” of a free press.

The Supreme Court rules that Georgia’s capital punishment law is unconstitutional because it risks the “cruel and unusual punishment” prohibited by the Eighth Amendment. As a result, the death penalty is suspended in forty states. After many state laws are changed, executions resume in some states in 1977.

The Supreme Court rules that student newspapers and other activities that are not public forums can be censored when school officials find the content inap-propriate for school.

The Supreme Court allows a Bible study group to hold meetings at a public school after classes end as long as the school is not paying for them and other groups are also allowed to use school facilities.

An Oregon high school student is not allowed to play football because he refused to participate in random drug testing of school athletes. The Supreme Court rules that random drug testing of high-school athletes is a “reasonable” search.

The Supreme Court overturns a Washington, D.C. law banning all handguns for violating the Second Amendment right to bear arms. In a question considered for the first time, the Court rules that the right to bear arms is an individual right, and not just related to serving in a militia.

1964 New York Times Co. v. Sullivan

1965 Griswold v. Connecticut

1966 Miranda rights

1969 Free speech in school

1971 “Pentagon Papers” case

1972 Death penalty ruled unconstitutional

1988 Free speech for students

1990 Religious study on school grounds

1995 Random drug testing

2008 District of Columbia v. Heller

© 2010, 2014

Amendment SummariesDirections: Use the first column of this sheet to help you identify the main ideas of each amendment in the Bill of Rights during the during the “quiz show.” In the second column, keep track of the court cases and documents that defined or influenced each amendment. (You can also copy this information from the board after the game.)

Amendment Court Cases and Documents

26

1. Freedom of religion, of speech, and of the press, and freedom to assemble, and to petition

2. The right to keep and bear arms

3. The quartering (housing) of soldiers

4. Security from unwarrantable search and seizure

5. Rights of an accused person during criminal proceedings

6. The right to a speedy trial, witness, and counsel

7. Trial by jury in civil cases

8. Bails, fines, and punishments

9. Reservations of the rights of the people

10. Power reserved to states or to the people

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EVALUATION ACTIVITY

The Declaration of Human Rights and the Bill of Rights

INTRODUCTIONThe Bill of Rights ensures the rights, privacy, and protection of Americans, or citizens of the United States, but

what about citizens around the world? How are the rights of citizens around the world protected? In this activity, students will learn about some of the rights described in the United Nations’ Declaration of Human Rights, which protects the rights of citizens around the globe, and analyze how those rights are similar and different from those in the Bill of Rights. Students will use what they have learned about the rights described in both documents to compile a Bill of Rights of their own.

OBJECTIVES As a result of this activity, students will be able to:

1. Describe the rights of all people around the world.2. Examine the Declaration of Human Rights.3. Draw conclusions about the rights that all people should have.4. Illustrate and explain an important right that all people should have.

STANDARDS OF LEARNINGThis lesson meets the National Standards of Learning in the area of historical comprehension, analysis, and

decision making.

MATERIALSColored paper or card stock (provided by teacher)

STRATEGY1. Review with students the rights that are described in the Bill of Rights.2. The Declaration of Human Rights includes thirty rights, some of which are similar to and others different from those described in the Bill of Rights. On the board, write down some of the rights from the Declaration of Human Rights, such as the following:

1.) When children are born, they are free and each should be treated in the same way. They have reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a friendly manner.

12.) You have the right to ask to be protected if someone tries to harm your good name, enter your house, open your letters, or bother you or your family without a good reason.15.) You have the right to belong to a country and nobody can prevent you, without a good reason, from belonging to a country if you wish.18.) You have the right to profess your religion freely, to change it, and to practice it either on your own or with other people.19.) You have the right to think what you want, to say what you like, and nobody should forbid you from doing so.

You should be able to share your ideas also—with people from any other country.

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20.) You have the right to organize peaceful meetings or to take part in meetings in a peaceful way. It is wrong to force someone to belong to a group.

22.) The society in which you live should help you to develop and to make the most of all the advantages (culture, work, social welfare) which are offered to you and to all the men and women in your country.30.) In all parts of the world, no society, no human being, should take it upon her or himself to act in such a way as to destroy the rights which you have just been reading about.

3. Discuss these rights as a class. Then ask students to write their own Bill of Rights for the classroom, school, community, or the world. Use this question to guide students’ thinking: What rights do you think everybody should have?4. Record students’ responses on the chalkboard or whiteboard, and discuss their ideas as a class.5 After the discussion, distribute a piece or sheet of colored paper, card stock, or other material to each student. Have each student draw a picture or make a collage to illustrate their favorite right from among the ideas listed on the board. Collect students’ pictures or collages and post them around the classroom.

LESSON EXTENSIONS1. Have students research human rights in other countries and compare them to the rights described in the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights. Ask them to make a Venn diagram to compare and contrast these rights. 2. Have students brainstorm ideas on how citizens can raise awareness for the United Nations on additional human rights that are needed around the world.

© 2010, 2014çolonial Â ®

We would enjoy copies of some of your students’ work from any of the lesson plans in this teacher’s guide. If you care to share examples, please send them to:

Gina DeAngelisEducation OutreachThe Colonial Williamsburg FoundationP.O. Box 1776Williamsburg, VA 23187-1776

Thanks for their help toNancy Paulson, Gilbert, ArizonaTed Green, St. Louis, Missouri

and to the following staff members of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation:Frances Burroughs, director of operations, educational programsWilliam Fetsko, curriculum specialistRose McAphee, historian reviewerLinda Randulfe, producer/directorBen Shattuck, research assistantBill Sullivan, historian reviewerBill White, writer and historian reviewer

This teacher’s guide was underwritten by the William and Gretchen Kimball Young Patriots Fund.

Special thanks toJosé Barcita, graphic designer