United States Constitution



The Bill of RightsThe Bill of Rights guarantees certain rights to citizens. We will study those rights during the next few days. In addition, citizens have duties and responsibilities. Duties are things we are required to do:Responsibilities are voluntary and not required:________Obey the Laws_______________Be Informed___________________________Pay Taxes____________________Vote___________________________________Defend the Nation_____________Participate in Government_____________Serve in Court_________________Respect the Rights of Others___________Attend School_________________Respect Diversity_______________The first 10 Amendments to the Constitution were adopted in 1791.First Amendment 1.Freedom of religion.2.Freedom of the press.3.Freedom of speech.4.Right to peacefully assemble.5.Right to petition your grievances to the government.Second AmendmentA well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.Interpreted to mean that citizens have the right to own guns.Third AmendmentNo soldiers shall be quartered in private homes during peace time.Fourth Amendment1.Right to privacy.2.Freedom from illegal searches.3.Freedom from being wrongly arrested.?A warrant is a document giving the police the right to make a search or to make an arrest.Fifth AmendmentProtection for those accused of crimes.1.Can be indicted by a grand jury of whose purpose it is to determine whether there is enough evidence against you to hold a trial.2.No double jeopardy - once you have been found innocent in a jury trial, that case is closed.3.You don't have to be a witness against yourself.4.Accused people should not lose their lives, liberty, or property without due process of law.?due process - a limit of the power of government so that it acts fairly according to the law.?eminent domain - if your property is being used for public use ( a highway, for example), you must be paid a fair price for the property.Sixth Amendment1.Protects the rights of the accused.a.You have the right to a speedy and public trial. b.You have the right to a fair/impartial trial by a jury of your peers.c.The trial should be held in the state and district where the crime took place.?change of venue (location)d.You have the right to know what you are being tried for (habeas corpus).e.You have the right to see, hear, and question witnesses against you in thecourtroom.?Subpoena - allows you to have people who can help you in your trial come to court. A subpoena forces them to come to provide testimony on your behalf. f.You have the right to a lawyer.?Public defender-a lawyer appointed for you if you cannot afford one.Seventh AmendmentYou have the right to a jury trial if the case involves more than $20.?small claims court up to $3,000.Eighth Amendment1.No excessive bail a.Money paid to get out of jail until your trial occurs.b.If it is a serious crime, bail is set very high.c.The money helps make certain that you will show up for your trial.?At that time you will get your money back less 1% for court costs.?A bail bondsman provides bail for the accused at a cost of 10% of the bail set.2.No excessive fines - fines that are too high; therefore, unfair for the crime done.3.No cruel or unusual punishments for those found guilty of a crime.Ninth AmendmentEven though certain rights are not enumerated in the Constitution, you still have them.Tenth AmendmentPowers not given to the federal government are reserved for the states and the people. Example: marriage, education, etc.and BEYOND. . .Eleventh Amendment - 1795Rules for lawsuits against slaves. People in one state, or foreigners, cannot sue another state in federal court.Twelfth Amendment - 1804Allowed voters to vote for the president and vice president on separate ballots so that members of the same political party would not be running against each other for the presidency.Thirteenth Amendment - 1865Abolishes slavery.Frederick Douglass, was a self-educated man, born into slavery. He ran away as a teenager. He became a strong advocate for the abolition of slavery. A gifted speaker, Douglass traveledthroughout American and Europe, delivering speeches and publishing his abolitionist newspaper, the North Star. His home in upstate New York became a station on the Underground Railroad. Douglas was helped by other leading abolitionists, such as Sojourner Truth and William Lloyd Garrison Eventually, slavery was abolished as a result of the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Thirteenth Amendment.Fourteenth Amendment - 1868Guarantees citizenship, due process and equal protection under the law.Fifteenth Amendment - 1870Voting rights for former slaves.Sixteenth Amendment - 1913The power of the federal government to collect income taxes.Seventeenth Amendment - 1913Election of senators by the people.Eighteenth Amendment - 1918Bans the sale of alcohol - prohibition. (Volsted Act)Nineteenth Amendment - 1920Gives women the right to vote.Twentieth Amendment - 1933Sets the date when president's and Congress's terms begin ?President and vice president - noon on January 20th.?Congress - noon on January 3rd.Twenty-first Amendment - 1933Repeals the Eighteenth Amendment.Twenty-second Amendment - 1951Limits the president to two terms.? Cannot hold office for more than 10 years.Twenty-third Amendment- 1961Gives people in the District of Columbia the right to vote for president.Twenty-fourth Amendment - 1964Forbids having to pay a tax to vote - poll tax.Twenty-fifth Amendment - 1967Says who is next in line if something happens to the president.Twenty-sixth Amendment- 1971Sets the voting age at 18 years of age.Twenty-seventh Amendment - 1992Congressional pay raises take effect after an election of representatives has taken placeName _________________________________The U.S. Constitution is divided into 7 Articles (sections). We will focus mainly on Articles I, II, and III which deal with the branches of our federal government. Using your textbook answer the following questions. For any questions that are marked In Class, you may skip those for now as we will discuss and answer those as a class, use PAGES 228-239.PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTIONWrite the Preamble to the Constitution Below:We the People of the United States in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure [sic] domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defence [sic], promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.MEMORIZE THIS PREAMBLE:You will recite this Preamble on Friday 3/1/13What the Preamble Means to Us:?The government should value and protect the rights of citizens.?Everyone should be treated equally and fairly under the law.?The government has the responsibility to protect its citizens against foreign attack.?All states should work together as a unified nation.?The government has the responsibility to promote the well-being of its citizens.Article IU.S. House of RepresentativesNational CensusU.S. SenateArticle I of the United States Constitution sets out the rules, guidelines and responsibilities of the ____LEGISLATIVE______ branch. This main job of this branch is to ___MAKE_______ __LAWS_____. ____CONGRESS_____ is ____BICAMERAL_____, which means that it is made up from 2 parts. There is an upper house and a lower house. Please label the following diagram. 29032201840230HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES00HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES3131820811530SENATESENATE2743201383030CONGRESSCONGRESSWhen a citizen is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives they will serve a _2__ year term. There are 3 basic requirements that one must meet to be a U.S. Representative.____Must be a U.S. Citizen for 7 years___________________________Must be 25 years old____________________________Must be a resident of the district and state in you will represent__The census is taken every _10__ years. The main purpose of the census is to determine the population which allows each state’s _Congressional _______ ___Representation_____ to be determined.In ClassThe Constitution provided for at least one representative for each state. Originally, there was one representative for every 30,000 people. Today the ratio of people per representative is ____710,767_____: ___1__States with the largest populations have the most Representatives.The top ten states (including 3 that are tied) are the following:California 53 Pennsylvania 18Texas 36 Ohio 16New York 27 Michigan 14Florida 27 Georgia 14Illinois 18 North Carolina 13 New Jersey 12There are 7 states whose population only qualifies them for 1 U.S. Representative, these are;1. ____Montana_____ 2. _____Wyoming_____ 3. ___North Dakota_______4. ____South Dakota______ 5. ____Delaware_____ 6. ____Vermont______7. ___Alaska______When a citizen is elected to the U.S. Senate they will serve a _6__ year term. There are 3 basic requirements that one must meet to be a U.S. Representative.__ Must be a minimum of 30 years old __________ Must be a citizen of the United States for 9 years _______ Must be a resident of the state from which he/she is running Senate LeadersOriginally, the Constitution provided for Senators to be selected, not elected, by _State Legislature_____. Through the amendment process this was changed and after the _17th __ Amendment was passed citizens elected their Senators.The Vice-President of the United States serves as the __President of the Senate___. As every state is entitled to __2__ Senators, the possibility of a ___tie___ during voting exists. Please explain what the only job of the Vice-President is as a member of the U.S. Senate. ______BREAK TIE VOTES_______________________________________________________________________________________.Article IIPresidencyElectoral College“Losing Winners”Line of SuccessionArticle II describes the rules and regulations for the _EXECUTIVE_____ branch of our government. The main job of this branch is to __ENFORCE OR CARRY OUT LAWS__. The head of this branch is the ___PRESIDENT______.The President must meet 3 requirements to be eligible for election.__ Must be a native-born__ citizen __________________.___Must be 35 years old.____________________________.___Must be a resident of the U.S. for 14 years (does not have to be consecutive)_.The Constitution sets the length of term for the President at __4 years_____. Originally, there were no limits on the number of terms a President could serve, although most Presidents followed the example of __GEORGE WASHINGTON___ who set many precedents for the U.S. Presidency. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected to 4 terms of office. Congress decided to limit a President to _2_ terms or _10_ total years. The __22ND _ Amendment created term limits for the President. Also, the Constitution originally provided that the 2nd place finisher in voting became the Vice President of the United States. According to this original format our current President would be Barrack Obama and his Vice President would be John McCain! This dysfunctional relationship was later avoided when the 12TH _ Amendment was passed allowing voters to select vote for a Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate of the same political party.The President of the United States is actually elected by the _ELECTORAL COLLEGE.Whichever candidate wins a state’s popular vote is entitled to the state’s ELECTORAL vote. A state’s electoral vote count uses the following formula Senators + Representatives= State’s Total Electoral Vote. Using this formula answer the following electoral college questions.How many electoral votes does Ohio have? __18___What is the smallest amount of electoral votes a state could have? _3___Identify one state that has the smallest amount of electoral votes. _______________The total number of electoral votes is the House of Representatives (435) + Senators + Washington D.C. (3)= ___538______ total votes. To win the Presidency a candidate must win a simple majority (more than 50%) of electoral college votes. Therefore the magic number of votes needed to be President of the United States is _270___. An electoral tie could occur at __269_ to _269__.In the event of an electoral tie, or if no candidate receives a majority of the votes explain how the President is selected.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It is possible to have more popular votes than your opponent and still lose an election if the other person has more electoral votes. Four times in United States history, a candidate for President who received the most votes of the people failed to gain office. The "losing winners:"~1824 - Andrew Jackson lost to John Quincy Adams, ~1876 - Samuel J. Tilden lost to Rutherford B. Hayes~1888 - Grover Cleveland lost to Benjamin Harrison~2000 - Al Gore lost to George W. BushIn ClassIf the President dies in office or is unable to fulfill their duties as President he or she would be followed by (complete the list that follows):President_Vice President_______________Speaker of the House_________President Pro-TemporeEach cabinet member in order of their creation (15)_99 Remaining Senators_________434 Remaining Members of the House__The Armed Forces of the United StatesIdentify the amendment that created this hierarchy. Explain why you think they created this amendment. (Hint: What was going on during the time period Congress created this new amendment)___25th_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Article IIIThe final branch of our federal system of government is the _JUDICIAL____ branch.Their job is to ___JUDGE/ INTERPRET______. They will decide whether laws or actions of the government follow the Constitution, if they don’t then they will be declared ____UNCONSTITUTIONAL________. This power to examine and declare governmental actions/laws illegal is known as __JUDICIAL_____ ___REVIEW__.According to the Constitution there must be how many members of the Supreme Court? ____NONE MENTIONED___. Justices are appointed for how long? __LIFE____In ClassCurrently there are _9__ members of the Supreme Court. The leader of the Supreme Court is known as the ____CHIEF___ ____JUSTICE___, he is __JOHN___ __ROBERTS_____.The other members of the Supreme Court are known as ____ASSOCIATE____ __JUSTICES____They are ____ANTONIN SCALIA________, _____ANTHONY KENNEDY_____, __CLARENCE THOMAS________, __RUTH BADER GINSBURG___________, __STEPHEN BREYER________, ____SAMUEL ALITO_______, __SONIA SOTOMAYER__________, ____ELENA KAGAN________.Supreme Court Cases are decided by ____SIMPLE MAJORITY___________. ................
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