The Constitution and Bill of Rights

© Constitutional Rights Foundation, Los Angeles, 2002All rights reserved.

Imagine that America was suddenly a kingdom...

With one supreme ruler...

The King of America has the power to make new laws that all the citizens have to follow.

If the military needs to occupy a community, Americans will open their

homes to them and provide soldiers with food and shelter.

The King of America is the ruler of all of the United States.

He does not need to ask Americans for permission to collect or raise taxes.

Police officers and soldiers have the right to enter and search homes and businesses when

they feel it is necessary.

They have the right to take any goods that Americans have not paid taxes on.

The King has ordered the media to cease publishing or broadcasting anything negative about the King or the King’s government.

Americans who break these or any other of the Kingdom’s laws will be tried in the King’s court by a judge appointed by the King. There will be no jury.

How do you like your new country?

How do you think other Americans

would react to this king and government?

Early American colonists experienced situations similar to these.

They were tired of being ruled by the British kingdom. Battles broke out.

The colonists declared independence.The war was on.

The Revolutionary War.

While the colonists were fighting the war, they were also trying to set up a new government.

They realized they had a problem.

How do we form a government that will not turn out like the British rule?

What should our government be like?

Certainly not like a kingdom!

Forming a democratic government had never been done before, so the Colonial leaders took a first stab at it.

They wrote a plan for the government and called it the Articles of Confederation.

The Articles of Confederation gave the states a lot of power and the central government very little.

The founders wanted to make sure that no person or government had power like the British king. But the plan didn’t work.

Some of the problems were…

The central government didn’t have enough power to get things done like...

Pay the soldiers who had fought

in the war.

Every state printed its own money. It was hard to travel and buy things.

The states had so much power that things got confusing.

The United States were not so united. Leaders began to worry that if we had another war, we would just fall apart.

It turned out that we needed a stronger central government.

The leaders from the states gathered at Independence Hall in Philadelphia to work

on a new plan for the government.

The question before them…

Just how much power should the central government have?

At the Constitutional Convention, the founders came up with several things:

They wanted to ensure a balance of power.

Some powers should go to the central government. Some powers should go to the states.

They called this Federalism.

Judicial

Legisl

ative

Executive

To make sure that the central government could not be run by one individual or group,

they separated the powers of the central government among three branches.

Each branch would have its own, but equal, powers.

Having three branches of government provided a way for “checks and balances.”

The founders had one more

important question to deal with: What about our

individual rights? Should we put a list of

our rights in the Constitution?

No, because this might mean that these were

the ONLY rights we had. We couldn’t possibly list

ALL the rights free citizens should have!

Yes, because this would ensure that no laws now

or in the future could infringe on our basic

individual rights.

Some people argued against adding a bill of rights.

Others advocated adding a bill of rights.

Even after the Constitution was ratified, some states insisted that a bill of rights be added.

After the Convention ended, arguments continued about whether to add a bill of rights to the Constitution.

James Madison, a Congressman from Virginia, persuaded the first Congress to get moving on a bill of rights.

This was interesting because Madison,along with Alexander Hamiltonand John Jay,

had opposed adding a bill of rights.

NO. Not necessary.

I think not. Nope.

In fact, they felt so strongly about it that they published over 80 essays in newspapers to try to convince people that the Constitution should be ratified as is.The collection of essays is known as the Federalist Papers.

Madison had a change of heart, though. He did some serious thinking about the whole thing and talked to his friends about it, especially Thomas Jefferson.

Madison became convinced that a bill of rights should be added, since many of the states were counting on it.

He went before the first Congress and presented his ideas. Congress was busy with other important matters, but...

Madison urged members of Congress to make adding a bill of rights a priority. They finally

agreed.

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Madison got to work on the Bill of Rights.

He used ideas from states that already had their own bills of rights.

He thought about what we could learn from history

and philosophy.

And he continued to talk to his friends.

On December 15, 1791, ten amendments were added to

the Constitution.

The Bill of Rights, along with the Constitution, became the

law of the land.The ten amendments in the Bill of Rights guarantee basic

liberties.

Freedom of Expression1st Amendment

Religion Separation of church and state Free exercise of religious beliefs

Speech

Press

Assembly &

Petition

2nd AmendmentKeep and bear arms.

“Well regulated militia”

3rd AmendmentQuartering of Soldiers

4th AmendmentSearch and Seizure

5th AmendmentIndictment by Grand Jury. No double jeopardy.

Due process of law. Just compensation.

Don’t have to testify against yourself.

6th AmendmentSpeedy, public trial. Impartial jury.

Informed of accusation. Witnesses:Right to an attorney. Confront those against you.

Have your own.

7th AmendmentJury trial for civil case.

(at least $20)

8th AmendmentNo excessive bail, fines.

No cruel or unusual punishment.

9th AmendmentThese rights are not the only rights we have.

10th AmendmentPowers not delegated by the Constitution are reserved for the states and the people.

The founders included in the Constitution a rule stating that it could be amended, or

changed.

Over time, people and attitudes have changed, and new amendments have been added to protect the rights of all citizens.

We the People

Outlaws slavery.

19th Amendment (1920)

Women’s right to vote.

13th Amendment (1865)

14th Amendment (1868)All people born or naturalized in the U.S. are citizens.

All citizens must be treated equally under the law.

Due process of law for all.

15th Amendment (1870)

Right to vote cannot be denied based on “race, color, or previous …servitude.”

Sometimes called the “Civil War

Amendments.”

And later...

The End

Since the ten amendments in the Bill of Rights were

adopted in 1791, the Constitution has been

amended only 17 more times.

© Constitutional Rights Foundation, Los Angeles, 2002. All rights reserved.

Designed by Marshall CroddyWritten by Keri Doggett & Bill Hayes

Graphic Design by Keri DoggettProduction by Andrew

Costly

The Constitution and Bill of Rights

Special thanks to John Kronstadt, CRF Board of Directors, for inspiration and

input.