Chapter 10 Notes

Chapter 10 Notes

1. The Bill Of Rights

   • James Madsion wrote it

2. Creating The Bill Of Rights

   • Debate and Approval in Congress
     • While Congress debated other issues, Madison sifted through nearly 100 proposed amendments.
     • He chose those that seemed least controversial, or least likely to cause conflict, and presented them to Congress on June 8, 1789.
     • Critics jumped on Madison's proposals as meaningless “milk-and-water” cures for imaginary problems. The debate that followed was, in Madison's words, “extremely difficult.”
     • As months dragged on with no agreement, he wrote to a friend that the task had become a “nauseous project.” Still, he persevered until Congress finally approved 12 amendments.
   • Ratification by the States
     • By 1791, the required number of states (nine) had approved the other ten amendments. Together, these ten amendments form the Bill of Rights.
     • Under the Constitution, three-quarters of the states must ratify an amendment before it can become law.
   • In the first presidential election, held in 1789, George Washington became the nation's first president. John Adams of Massachusetts became vice president.
   • Originally, he had opposed adding a bill of rights to the Constitution. Such a listing seemed unnecessary to him.

3. First Amendment Rights

   • The Right to Worship Freely
     • The second religious guarantee in the First Amendment says, “Congress shall make no law . . . prohibiting the free exercise” of religion.
   • The Right to Free Speech and Press
     • The First Amendment protects freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
     • The Supreme Court has held that speech means more than just words. Free expression includes symbolic speech, or actions people take to express their opinions.
     • Freedom of the press is important because of the vital roles that the press plays in a democratic society. Newspapers, magazines, and other media such as books and television act as watchdogs on the government.
   • The Right to Assemble and Petition
     • While the First Amendment protects peaceful meetings, it does not give people the right to close streets or buildings or to protest violently.
       • Police can arrest a speaker who urges listeners to riot or to break the law.
     • The right to assembly means that citizens can use public property for meetings and demonstrations.
   • These First Amendment rights would have been meaningless, however, without some way to protect them. When a person believes that the government has violated these rights, he or she may challenge the government's action in court.
   • These are the freedoms of religion, speech, the press, and assembly and the right to petition the government

4. Citizen Protections

   • Second Amendment: The Right to Bear Arms
     • Heller. The Court held that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to own a gun for personal use, including self-defense inside the home.
   • Third Amendment: Quartering Troops in Homes
     • Great Britain had forced colonists to house British soldiers. The Third Amendment gave Americans the right to refuse such requests.
   • Fourth Amendment: Searches and Seizures
     • Nowhere in the Fourth Amendment, however, does it say that a warrant is required for every government search.
     • Before arresting a person or searching someone's home, police must show a judge that there is good reason for such action.
       • The judge then issues a warrant that says exactly who will be arrested or what will be searched.
     • The Fourth Amendment protects people and their belongings from “unreasonable searches and seizures.”
       • A seizure is the act of forcibly taking control of a person or property.
   • The next three amendments protect citizens from various kinds of government abuse. All three reflect the experience of American colonists under British rule

5. Legal Rights and Protections

   • Fifth Amendment: Legal Rights
     • First, this amendment gives people who are accused of serious crimes the right to a grand jury hearing.
       • A grand jury is a group of citizens who hear the government's evidence and decide whether a trial is justified. If so, the grand jury issues an indictment, or formal charge. If not, the accused person is released.
     • The Fifth Amendment is the longest amendment in the Bill of Rights. It lists five important rights of citizens involved with the justice system.
   • Sixth Amendment: Criminal Trial Rights
   • Seventh Amendment: Civil Trial Rights
   • Eighth Amendment: Bail and Punishments
   • The next four amendments lay out the rights and protections that apply to people who are accused of crimes or are involved in other legal disputes.

6. Other Rights and Powers

   • Ninth Amendment: Rights Retained by the People
   • Tenth Amendment: Powers Reserved to the States