social studies

Activity ̶ Side A

No Bill of Rights, No Deal Name:

A. Limited Government. In the argument over the Bill of Rights, both sides shared some views about individual rights and limited government. At the same time, the two sides saw those issues very differently. Write the letter of each statement in the part of the Venn diagram where it belongs.

A. The Constitution can be interpreted as granting unlimited government power.

B. Individual rights are a basic part of liberty.

C. A government “of the people” poses little danger to citizens’ rights.

D. Government power must be limited.

E. The system of nobility is a threat to liberty.

F. The Constitution makes it possible for government to take power away from the people.

G. The Constitution protects individual rights by not giving the government any power over those rights.

H. It doesn’t make sense to list protections for rights the government has no power to violate.

I. The Constitution’s limits on power can’t be trusted.

J. Past abuses of power prove the need for limiting government.

K. Listing individual rights is a necessary safeguard against the possibility of government abuse.

L. The government cannot abuse powers the Constitution hasn’t given it.

B. Nutshell Version. How would you summarize the argument over adding a bill of rights to the Constitution? Complete each sentence below with a big-picture idea based on what you learned in the reading.

The main disagreement about adding a bill of rights was whether…

The Federalists, who supported the Constitution and opposed a bill of rights, generally believed…

The Anti-Federalists, who opposed the Constitution partly because there was no bill of rights, argued that…

Bill of Rights: YES

Bill of Rights: NO

Both

Activity ̶ Side B

No Bill of Rights, No Deal Name:

C. The Fear is Real. Early Americans knew about the abuse citizens could endure from a government. For each example, find the amendment(s) in the Bill of Rights related to the issues presented.

What Happened Related BoR Amendments

In the American colonies, government officials got court orders authorizing them to enter any location to search for and take goods that had been smuggled into the country. These court orders were valid for the lifetime of the current king, plus six months.

During the 16th and 17th centuries in England, the Star Chamber was a royal court that heard cases that couldn’t be heard in regular courts. Before it was finally abolished, the court met in secret, tortured people to gain information, and sentenced people to huge fines, life in prison, and even mutilation.

John Wilkes was both a journalist and a member of the British Parliament. In 1762, he published a severe criticism of a speech the king had given. Wilkes was arrested for publishing a “treasonous” newspaper intended to cause rebellion against the king.

D. But in England We Had… Check out the exerpts from the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights. Anything sound familiar? Locate the amendments in the Bill of Rights that correspond to these British rights, then match each one with the general protection involved.

Magna Carta (1215; revised 1297)

A group of rebel barons presented a list of demands to the king, declaring that…

For a trivial offence, a free man shall be fined only in proportion to the degree of his offence, and for a serious offence correspondingly, but not so heavily as to deprive him of his livelihood.

In future no official shall place a man on trial upon his own unsupported statement, without producing credible witnesses to the truth of it.

No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.

English Bill of Rights (1689)

The English Parliament listed many grievances against the king, and “for the vindicating and asserting of their ancient rights and liberties” declared…

That it is the right of the subjects to petition the king, and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal;

That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their defence suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law;

That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted;

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Activity ̶ Side C

No Bill of Rights, No Deal Name:

E. Specific Limits on Government. The debate over approving the Constitution took place in writing and speeches. Read each quote. For each one, look through the Bill of Rights to find the amendment that addresses the issue. Then, choose which right or protection is involved.

What security is there, that a man [accused of a crime] shall be furnished with a full and plain description of the charges against him? That he shall be allowed to produce all proof he can in his favor? That he shall see the witnesses against him face to face, or that he shall be fully heard in his own defense by himself or counsel?

– “On the Lack of a Bill of Rights” (by “BRUTUS” in the New York Journal on November 1, 1787)

Congress may, if they shall think it for the “general welfare,” establish an uniformity in religion throughout the United States. Such establishments have been thought necessary, and have accordingly taken place in almost all the other countries in the world, and will no doubt be thought equally necessary in this.

– “What Congress Can Do; What a State Cannot” (by “DELIBERATOR” in The Freeman’s Journal; or, The North-American Intelligencer, February 20, 1788)

In the bills of rights of the States it is declared, that a well regulated militia is the proper and natural defense of a free government…

– “On the Lack of a Bill of Rights” (by “BRUTUS” in the New York Journal on November 1, 1787)

Excise is a new thing in America, … But it is not so in Old England, where I have seen the effects of it… It is there a duty, or tax, laid upon almost every necessary of life and convenience, and a great number of other articles. … The excise officers have power to enter your houses at all times, by night or day, and if you refuse them entrance, they can, under pretense of searching for exciseable goods, that the duty has not been paid on, break open your doors, chests, trunks, desks, boxes, and rummage your houses from bottom to top.

– “The Use of Coercion by the New Government” (by “A FARMER AND PLANTER” in The Maryland Journal, and Baltimore Advertiser on April 1, 1788)

Have we the means of resisting disciplined armies, when our only defence, the militia, is put into the hands of Congress?

– Speech by Patrick Henry to Virginia’s ratification convention on June 5, 1788

1) Amendment #_____ addressed this.

Rights/protections involved:

Protection of property

Rights of the accused

Protection from torture

Freedom of expression

1) Amendment #_____ addressed this.

Rights/protections involved:

Right of assembly

Right to free exercise of religion

Protection from establishment of religion

Freedom of expression

1) Amendment #_____ adressed this.

Right/protection involved:

Protection of property

Free exercise of religion

Right against self-incrimination

Right to bear arms

1) Amendment #_____ addressed this.

Rights/protections involved:

Right to a jury trial in civil cases

Protection from unreasonable search and seizure

Protection against double jeopardy

Right of assembly

Activity ̶ Side D

No Bill of Rights, No Deal Name:

G. Criminal Defense Minus the BoR? Imagine a lawyer is defending a client who was charged with a crime after police showed up without a warrant, walked right into the client’s home, and found drugs after searching every nook and crannie in the house. Today, the lawyer would make an argument based on the 4th Amendment. But what if there had never been a compromise, and no bill of rights was ever added to the Constitution?

Use what you learned in this lesson to craft a defense based on the Constitution alone.

F. Amendments 9 & 10. Study the text of the last two amendments in the Bill of Rights to help you figure out the clues to the puzzle.

Across

2. The 10th amendment deals with the ____ of government. 4. A word that means “kept” 8. Another word for “listing” 9. This amendment addresses the concern that the Constitution

can be interpreted as having unlimited power. Down

1. Word that means “interpreted” 3. Word that means “given” 5. The 9th amendment deals with people’s ____. 6. Another word that means “kept” 7. This amendment addresses the concern that it could be dangerous

to list some rights but not others.

6 7

Your Honor, our evidence proves the defendant is guilty of drug possession. Officers found the drugs in the back of the defendant’s messy sock drawer!

Your Honor, this was an outrageous invasion of my client’s rights! The Constitution protects my client from this sort of behavior because…