splash screen contents chapter introduction section 1the first amendment section 2other guarantees...

Chapter Introduction

Section 1 The First Amendment

Section 2 Other Guarantees in the Bill of Rights

Section 3 Extending the Bill of Rights

Section 4 The Civil Rights Struggle

Review to Learn

Chapter Assessment

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Chapter OverviewIn Chapter 4 you examine the Bill of Rights. Section 1 identifies freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment. Section 2 explains the other nine amendments. Section 3 discusses how later amendments extended freedoms to minorities. Section 4 describes the civil rights movement.

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Chapter ObjectivesAfter studying this chapter, you will be able to:

• Describe First Amendment freedoms. • Explain the rights listed in the entire

Bill of Rights. • Examine how minority groups are

protected by the Bill of Rights.

• Describe the civil rights movement.

Guide to Reading

Soon after ratification of the Constitution, the First Amendment was added to guarantee basic freedoms essential to American democracy.

• civil liberties

Main Idea

Key Terms

• censorship • petition • slander

• libel

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First Amendment Freedoms • The Bill of Rights, added in 1791, protects

our civil liberties–the freedoms we have to think and act without government interference or fear of unfair treatment.

• The First Amendment protects five basic freedoms: religion, speech, press, assembly, and to petition the government.

• Congress may not establish an official religion, favor one religion over another, or treat people differently because of their beliefs.

• People may practice their faith as they wish.


(pages 98–100)(pages 98–100)

First Amendment Freedoms (cont.)

• In some countries, people can be jailed for criticizing the government or voicing unpopular ideas.

• We can say what we want, in public or in private, without fear of punishment.

• Freedom of speech includes conversations, radio, and TV.

• It also protects forms of expression other than the spoken word, such as clothing.


(pages 98–100)(pages 98–100)


• We may express ourselves freely in print and other media.

• The government cannot practice censorship–it cannot ban printed materials or films because they contain offensive ideas or ban information before it is published or broadcast.


(pages 98–100)(pages 98–100)


• We may gather in groups for any reason, as long as the assemblies are peaceful.

• Governments can make rules about when and where activities can be held but cannot ban them.

• We may freely join clubs, political parties, unions, and other organizations.

• We have the right to petition the government.

• A petition is a formal request. • We can complain or express ideas by writing

to our elected representatives.


(pages 98–100)(pages 98–100)

Limits to First Amendment Freedoms • The Supreme Court has decided that

First Amendment freedoms may be limited to protect safety and security.

• You may not provoke a riot.

• You may not speak or write in a way that leads to criminal activities or efforts to overthrow the government.


(page 101)(page 101)

Limits to First Amendment Freedoms• You should use civil liberties responsibly

and not interfere with the rights of others. • You may criticize government officials but

not spread lies that harm a person’s reputation.

• Doing so is a crime called slander if the lies are spoken and libel if they are printed.

• Unlimited freedom is not possible in a society.

• The rights of one individual must be balanced against the rights of others and of the community.


(cont.)


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Guide to Reading

In addition to the important civil liberties protected by the First Amendment, the other nine amendments in the Bill of Rights guarantee the right to fair legal treatment, as well as other freedoms.

• search warrant

Main Idea

Key Terms

• indictment • grand jury • double jeopardy

• due process • eminent domain

• bail


Protecting the Rights of the Accused • The Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth

Amendments protect the rights of accused people.

• The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.

• If police believe you have committed a crime, they can ask a judge for a search warrant–a court order allowing law enforcement officials to search a suspect’s home or business and take evidence.

• Search warrants are granted only with good cause.


(pages 103–106)(pages 103–106)

Protecting the Rights of the Accused• The Fifth Amendment states that no one

can be put on trial for a serious federal crime without an indictment–a formal charge by a group of citizens called a grand jury, who review the evidence.

• An indictment does not mean guilt–it indicates only that the person may have committed a crime.

• The Fifth Amendment also protects against double jeopardy.

• Someone tried and judged not guilty may not be put on trial again for the same crime.


(cont.)

(pages 103–106)(pages 103–106)

• The Fifth Amendment protects an accused person’s right to remain silent.

• This prevents a person from being threatened or tortured into a confession.

• The Fifth Amendment states that no one may be denied life, liberty, or property without due process, or the use of established legal procedures.

• The Fifth Amendment limits eminent domain–the right of government to take private property (usually land) for public use.


Protecting the Rights of the Accused(cont.)

(pages 103–106)(pages 103–106)

• The Sixth Amendment requires accused people to be told the charges against them and guarantees a trial by jury unless the accused chooses a judge instead.

• Trials must be speedy and public with impartial jurors.

• Accused people have a right to hear and question witnesses against them and call witnesses in their own defense.

• Accused people are entitled to a lawyer.



(pages 103–106)(pages 103–106)

• Before trial, the accused may stay in jail or pay bail, a security deposit.

• Bail is returned if the person comes to court for trial but is forfeited if the person fails to appear.

• The Eighth Amendment forbids excessive bail and excessive fines.

• It also forbids cruel and unusual punishment.

• Punishment must fit the severity of the crime.



(pages 103–106)(pages 103–106)

Protecting Other Rights • The Second Amendment is often debated. • Some believe it only allows states to keep

an armed militia, or local army. • Others believe it guarantees the right of all

citizens to “keep and bear arms.” • The courts have generally ruled that

government can pass laws to control, but not prevent, the possession of weapons.

• The Third Amendment says that soldiers may not move into private homes without the owners’ consent, as British soldiers had done in colonial times.


(pages 106–107)(pages 106–107)

Protecting Other Rights (cont.)

• The Seventh Amendment concerns civil cases–lawsuits involving disagreements among people rather than crimes.

• It guarantees the right to a jury trial in civil cases involving more than $20.

• It does not require a jury trial, however.

• The Ninth Amendment says that citizens have other rights beyond those listed in the Constitution.


(pages 106–107)(pages 106–107)

Protecting Other Rights (cont.)

• The Tenth Amendment says that any powers the Constitution does not specifically give to the national government are reserved to the states or to the people.

• This prevents Congress and the president from becoming too strong.

• They have only the powers the people give them.


(pages 106–107)(pages 106–107)

Guide to Reading

The amendments adopted after the Bill of Rights extended liberties and voting rights to African Americans, women, and other minority groups.

• suffrage

Main Idea

Key Terms

• poll tax


Protecting All Americans • At first, the Bill of Rights applied only to

adult white males.

• It also applied only to the national government, not to state or local governments.

• Later amendments and court rulings made the Bill of Rights apply to all people and all levels of government.

• The Civil War amendments–the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth–extended civil liberties to African Americans.


(pages 109–112)(pages 109–112)

Protecting All Americans (cont.)

• The Thirteenth Amendment outlawed slavery, freeing thousands of African Americans.

• After the Civil War, many Southern states passed “black codes” that limited the rights of African Americans.

• The Fourteenth Amendment remedied this situation by defining citizens as anyone born or naturalized in the United States, which included African Americans.

• It required all states to grant citizens equal protection of the laws.


(pages 109–112)(pages 109–112)


• The Fourteenth Amendment also nationalized the Bill of Rights by forbidding state governments from interfering with the rights of citizens.

• The Supreme Court upheld this interpretation of the amendment in Gitlow v. New York.


(pages 109–112)(pages 109–112)


• The Fifteenth Amendment says that no state may take away a person’s voting rights on the basis of race, color, or previous enslavement.

• It was intended to guarantee suffrage–the right to vote–to African Americans.

• It applied only to men. • According to the Constitution, state

legislatures were to choose senators. • The Seventeenth Amendment changed this

to allow voters to elect senators directly.


(pages 109–112)(pages 109–112)


• The Constitution did not grant or deny women the right to vote.

• As a result, states made their own decisions.

• The Nineteenth Amendment solved this problem by establishing women’s right to vote in all elections.

• Because Washington, D.C., is a district, not a state, its citizens could not vote in national elections.

• The Twenty-third Amendment established their right vote.


(pages 109–112)(pages 109–112)


• Several Southern states required people to pay poll taxes to vote.

• Because many African Americans and poor whites could not afford to pay, they could not vote.

• The Twenty-fourth Amendment outlawed poll taxes.

• The Twenty-sixth Amendment guaranteed the right to vote to citizens 18 and older.

• Before this amendment, most states set the minimum voting age at 21.


(pages 109–112)(pages 109–112)

Guide to Reading

Although amendments to the Constitution guaranteed rights to Americans, African Americans and other groups still did not enjoy civil rights. African Americans organized a civil rights movement to gain equality.

• discrimination

Main Idea

Key Terms

• segregation • civil rights • affirmative action

• racial profiling


Background of the Struggle • After the Civil War, African Americans

routinely faced discrimination, or unfair treatment based on prejudice against a certain group.

• The social separation of the races was known as segregation.

• It would take more than 100 years for African Americans to secure their civil rights–the rights of full citizenship and equality under the law.


(pages 113–115)(pages 113–115)

Background of the Struggle (cont.)

• The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) worked through the courts to challenge laws that denied African Americans their rights.

• The National Urban League helped improve opportunities for African Americans in cities.

• These groups and others built a civil rights movement.

• It made an important gain when President Harry Truman ordered an end to segregation in the armed forces.


(pages 113–115)(pages 113–115)


• In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, NAACP lawyers successfully argued that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.

• It violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s principle of equal protection under the law.


(pages 113–115)(pages 113–115)


• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a main leader of the civil rights movement.

• He believed in nonviolent resistance. • He helped organize marches and

boycotts.

• He inspired thousands with his “I Have a Dream” speech about hopes for racial equality and harmony.


(pages 113–115)(pages 113–115)


• African American students staged “sit-ins” at lunch counters that served only whites.

• White and African American “Freedom Riders” rode buses together to protest segregation.

• Such protests were met with violence by whites.


(pages 113–115)(pages 113–115)


• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination in public facilities, employment, education, and voter registration.

• It banned discrimination by race, color, gender, religion, and national origin.

• The Twenty-fourth Amendment outlawed poll taxes.

• The Voting Rights Act of 1965 further protected access of minorities to the polls.


(pages 113–115)(pages 113–115)

Ongoing Challenges• Affirmative action programs were intended

to make up for past discrimination.

• They encouraged the hiring and promoting of minorities and women, and the admission of more minority students to colleges.

• Critics complained that affirmative action programs gave preferential treatment to women and minorities, amounting to discrimination against men and whites.



Ongoing Challenges (cont.)

• The struggle for equal rights continues.

• Many Americans are subject to racial profiling–being singled out as suspects because of the way they look.

• Some become victims of hate crimes.


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