The Bill of Rights
This month we celebrate one of this country's most important documents: The Bill of Rights. Come along with EDSITEment to learn about the history and the content of this important, foundational document.
What kind of rights does the Bill of Rights guarantee? Teachers, parents, and students can learn more about the rights that are extended to all citizens in this document with the EDSITEment lesson, The First Amendment: What's Fair in a Free Country? This lesson introduces elementary school aged children to the Bill of Rights, and to the First Amendment in particular. You can also learn more about the rights- and responsibilities- of citizenship by accessing more information available through a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed site, CongressLink. Students can also distinguish between instances of free speech that are and are not protected by the Constitution in the EDSITEment lesson, Regulating Freedom of Speech. Another excellent EDSITEment lesson for learning about the Bill of Rights is The Preamble to the Constitution: How Do You Make a More Perfect Union?
Having learned about some of the rights that this document guarantees to Americans, your students may want to know some of the people behind the famous document. President James Madison is often referred to as the "Father of the Constitution" for his success in shepherding the document through its various stages to ratification. You and your students can learn more about James Madison and his life in the EDSITEment lessons devoted to our fourth president, James Madison: From Father of the Constitution to President. You and your students can also delve more deeply into the life of President Madison on the EDSITEment-reviewed web resource American President.
While Madison is generally considered the man who guided the Constitution through the ratification process, he was also wary of the powers this document granted to the newly formed government. Madison, along with Thomas Jefferson, wanted to protect fundamental human liberties that he believed could be abridged by the government. Thus, Madison's Bill of Rights can be thought of as a series of amendments that secure human liberties and impose further checks and balances upon the power of the federal government.
During the colonial period colonists living in the Americas had little or no recourse against policies—however oppressive—taken up by the government in England, and by King George III. Their ability to speak freely, to publish critical articles in the press, to organize demonstrations, and to protest those policies were greatly curtailed. The American colonists' response to these aspects of British rule, as well as the effect of that response on the eventual shape of the Constitution, is the subject of another EDSITEment lesson plan, Balancing Three Branches at Once: Our System of Checks and Balances. This lesson helps students understand the conflicting impulses that the framers of the Constitution sought to balance. On the one hand, they attempted to limit the arbitrary exercise of power that the colonists had experienced under British rule; and, on the other, they addressed a concern, which had become widespread by about 1787, that the Articles of Confederation had produced a federal government too weak to effectively rule the new nation. To learn more about the ways in which the Constitution sought to counter the perceived inadequacies of the Articles of Confederation, written in 1781 in reaction to years of British rule, see the EDSITEment lesson plan, The Preamble to the Constitution: How Do You Make a More Perfect Union?
Virginian delegate James Madison believed that the Bill of Rights would ensure the acceptance of the Constitution by both the Federalists and anti-Federalists. Moreover, he believed the Bill would inspire citizens to unite against any future attempts of government to infringe upon natural rights. On October 31, 1788, Madison wrote that the Bill would be "a good ground for an appeal to the sense of community" and would "counteract the impulses of interest and passion." Today, this bill serves not only as a protector of American rights but also as a source of controversy as citizens continually attempt to stretch its limitations to include a wider range of freedoms.
Suggested Activities
For Younger Students
For younger students, teachers and parents may wish to lead them through the EDSITEment Launchpad that is available here for K-5 students. Using EDSITEment web resources, younger students will begin to lay a foundation for understanding for the Bill of Rights.
For Older Students
What kinds of rights are guaranteed by the Bill of Rights? In this activity teachers, parents, and students will examine the rights that are delineated in the Bill of Rights. Using this EDSITEment Launchpad, students will read each of the amendments in order to determine which of the ten amendments included in the Bill of Rights would be applicable. Not every amendment will be covered in this exercise, and some amendments may be covered twice- so keep a sharp lookout!
Answer key:
- Answer: 3rd Amendment
- Answer: 1st Amendment
- Answer: 7th Amendment
- Answer: 8th Amendment
- Answer: 4th Amendment
- Answer: 1st Amendment
- Answer: 5th Amendment
- Answer: 6th Amendment
- Answer: 1st Amendment
|
