Bill of Rights

1. The Bill of
RighTs
“…what the people are entitled to
against every government on Earth…” –
Thomas Jefferson

2. The First Amendment
Guarantees 5 basic Freedoms

3. The First Amendment
• Freedom of Speech
- Allowed to speak against the
gov’t. and in public.
- Limited b/c of endangerment of
public safety & slander.
- Slander is speech that harms a
person’s reputation.
• Freedom of Press
• Allowed to inform the public
through television, books,
Internet, etc.
• Limited – b/c of libel.
• Libel is something in writing
that harms a person’s
reputation.

4. The First Amendment
•Right to
Assemble
• Meet together with
others.
•Right to
Petition
• Appeal to the
government.

5. The First Amendment
• Freedom of
Religion
1. No faith can be the official
religion of the U.S.
2. People can believe or not
believe whatever they like.

6. Second Amendment
The Right to Bear Arms
“A 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 [limited]”
- Debate about the meaning of this!
(personal/military)

7. Third Amendment
• No Quartering Troops in Homes
• “No soldier shall be quartered
[housed] in any house without the
consent of its owner.”

8. The Fourth Amendment
•No
Unreasonable
Search &
Seizures
• Seizure – forcibly taking
control of a person or
property
This amendment
protects people and
their property.

9. The Fifth Amendment:
• 5 Important
Legal Rights:
• 1. Right to a Jury
Trial (group of peers).
• 2. Double Jeopardy;
cannot be tried for the
same crime twice.
• 3. Cannot force people
to Self-Incriminate
“taking the 5th
” when
testifying in court.

10. The Fifth Amendment Continued
• 4. A person cannot be
“deprived of life, liberty,
or property, without
due process of law”.
• This means the gov’t.
must follow clear rules.
• EX: Innocent until
proven guilty.
• 5. Cannot take
someone’s property
for public use
“without just
compensation”.
• The gov’t. must pay a
fair price if it takes a
person’s property for
public use.
• EX: to build roads,
parks, etc.

11. The Sixth Amendment
• Criminal Trial
Rights:
• Right to a speedy trial.
-Cannot hold someone in jail
for a long time without being
judged.
• Right to a public trial.
-Cannot be held in secret.
• Right to an impartial Jury
hearing.
-the people listening to the trial
cannot be prejudiced or
influenced against the
defendant.

12. The Seventh Amendment
• Civil Trial Rights:
• Trials usually
involving money,
property, family
matters, and
businesses.
• Once a jury decides
the facts, a judge
cannot overrule that
decision.

13. The Eighth Amendment
• Bail and
Punishment
rights:
• Forbids
“excessive bail”
and “excessive
fines”
• No “cruel and
unusual
punishment”

14. The Ninth Amendment
• Rights Retained (kept) to the
People
- Problem with the Bill of Rights was
that it could not ever be complete.
- 9th
Amendment helps to protect the
rights not mentioned specifically in
the Bill of Rights. (ex:privacy)

15. The Tenth Amendment
• Powers reserved to the States
• Any powers not given to the National
Government in the constitution are
“reserved to the states…or to the
people.”
• When state and national powers
conflict; National power wins.

16. Summary
The Bill of Rights, that James Madison once
thought “unnecessary”, has become the
foundation for all the rights and privileges that
we as American citizens are guaranteed. It is
important that each citizen knows and
understands their rights!