The Constitution: Of The United States of America Elizabeth Garcia, Esq.
Continental Congress Muppet Style
Interesting Facts The Constitution has 4,400 words. It is the oldest and shortest written Constitution of any major government in the world. The Constitution is on display in the National Archives Building in Washington D.C. All four pages are displayed behind protective glass framed with titanium. To preserve the parchment s quality, the cases contain argon gas and are kept at 67 degrees Fahrenheit with a relative humity of 40%.
What is the Constitution? The highest law in the United States. It creates the three branches of Government There are a total of 27 amendments. The first ten amendments are special. They are called the Bill of Rights.
The Constitution: School House Rock
What is the Bill of Rights? After the leaders of the new United States wrote the Constitution, they had to get the thirteen states to agree to it. Some of the states did not want to agree unless they could add some specific rights for individual people. In 1791, the United States added ten new rights to the Constitution.
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FIRST AMENDMENT Freedom of speech, religion, press, expression and freedom of assembly. Congress can not make any law about your religion, or stop you from practicing your religion, or keep you from saying whatever you want, or publishing whatever you want (like in a newspaper or a book). And Congress can not stop you from meeting peacefully for a demonstration to ask the government to change something.
SECOND AMENDMENT Congress can not stop people from having and carrying weapons.
THIRD AMENDMENT You do not have to let soldiers live in your house, except if there is a war, and even then only if Congress has passed a law about it. The amendment is one of the least controversial of the Constitution, and has never been the primary basis of a Supreme Court decision.
FOURTH AMENDMENT Nobody can search your body, or your house, or your papers and things, unless they can prove to a judge that they have a good reason to think you have committed a crime. This amendment was included because many colonists were resentful of British officials entering homes and seizing belongings.
FIFTH AMENDMENT Protects people from self incrimination. You do not have to say anything at your trial. The Fifth Amendment also protects against double jeopardy and guarantees the rights to due process, grand jury screening of criminal indictments, and compensation for the seizure of private property under eminent domain. The amendment was the basis for the court's decision in Miranda v. Arizona (1966), which established that defendants must be informed of their rights to an attorney and against selfincrimination prior to interrogation by police.
SIXTH AMENDMENT If you are arrested, you have a right to a speedy trial. The government can not keep you in jail without providing you a trial. The case has to be decided by a jury of your peers. You have the right to know what you are accused of. In Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), the Court ruled that the amendment guaranteed the right to legal representation in all felony prosecutions in both state and federal courts.
SEVENTH AMENDMENT You also have the right to a jury when it is a civil case.
EIGHTH AMENDMENT The government can not make you pay more than is reasonable in bail or in fines, and the government can not order you to have cruel or unusual punishments (like torture) even if you are convicted of a crime.
NINTH AMENDMENT Just because these rights are listed in the Constitution does not mean that you don't have other rights too. This amendment has been used as a foundation for the right to privacy.
TENTH AMENDMENT Anything that the Constitution does not say that Congress can do should be left up to the states, or to the people.
I m Just A Bill! Be a great citizen and active in your community. We the people!