Embedded Files
SS5CG1 The student will explain how a citizen’s rights are protected under the U. S. Constitution.
SS5CG1 The student will explain how a citizen’s rights are protected under the U. S. Constitution.
Explain how the Constitution was designed to establish a basic system of government for the United States as well as to protect the rights of its citizens. Students should understand their basic rights as determined by the first ten amendments to the Constitution.
Government/Civics Kahoot Challenge
Government/Civics Kahoot Challenge
a. Explain the responsibilities of a citizen.
a. Explain the responsibilities of a citizen.
Citizens of the United States are expected to exercise certain responsibilities or duties. One responsibility of citizens is to participate in the political process by voting. Citizens are also responsible for following federal and state laws in all jurisdictions. In addition, they are obligated to serve their country when they are called upon to do so. This obligation includes serving on juries, participating in military service when drafted, paying taxes, and respecting the rights of others.
Vocabulary: responsibilities, citizens, participate, political process, jurisdictions, jury duty, military service .
BrainPop Constitution Ben's Guide to the Government
b. Explain the concept of due process of law and describe how the U.S. Constitution protects a citizen’s rights by due process.
b. Explain the concept of due process of law and describe how the U.S. Constitution protects a citizen’s rights by due process.
Vocabulary: due process of law, Constitution, citizen, rights
What is Due Process?
What is Due Process?
Due process means that all citizens are guaranteed certain rights even if they have committed crimes. They cannot be required to testify against themselves (5th amendment). They have the right to have an attorney if they cannot afford one, and to a fair, speedy and public trial (6th amendment). No citizen can be tortured, no matter how bad of a crime they have committed (8th amendment). In the United States, the concept of due process means that you are considered innocent, until you have been proven guilty in the court of law. You have the right to:
- A fair trial.
- Be told what crimes you are being accused of.
- Explain why you are innocent, including the right to present evidence and call witnesses.
- Know what evidence is being used to accuse you.
- Have the person accusing you in court.
- A court decision based only on the evidence provided in court.
- A lawyer, even if you can't afford one.
- A punishment appropriate for the crime. You cannot be tortured or fined excessively.
- The court must keep a record of the trial and all the evidence, as well as make a written report explaining the reason for their decision.
*Due process can include many other rights, which are much more specific to certain types of cases and situations.
SS5CG2 Explain the process by which amendments to the U.S. Constitution are made.
SS5CG2 Explain the process by which amendments to the U.S. Constitution are made.
a. Explain the amendment process outlined in the Constitution.
a. Explain the amendment process outlined in the Constitution.
Each addition to the Constitution is called an amendment. The framers of the Constitution knew that the Constitution would need to be changed, and that an amendment process was created within it.
In this described process, the framers of the Constitution established a procedure in which 2/3 of the members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate must vote to change the Constitution. This proposed amendment must be done in the form of a joint resolution.
Alternatively, a change can also be proposed through a Constitutional Convention that can be called by 2/3 of all state legislatures. Though this second method of change is possible, it has never been used. To change the Constitution, the proposed amendment must then be approved or ratified by ¾ of the states’ legislatures or when ¾ of a specially called state ratifying conventions vote for the amendment.
Vocabulary: amendment, procedure, ratified (ratification), state legislature
SS5CG3 Explain how amendments to the U.S. Constitution have maintained a representative democracy/republic.
SS5CG3 Explain how amendments to the U.S. Constitution have maintained a representative democracy/republic.
a. Explain how voting rights are protected by the 15th, 19th, 23rd, 24th, and 26th amendments.
a. Explain how voting rights are protected by the 15th, 19th, 23rd, 24th, and 26th amendments.
The 15th amendment, which was passed in 1870, granted African-American/Black men the right to vote. This final “Civil War Amendment” was designed to secure suffrage for former slaves and men of color. Unfortunately, for some African Americans/Blacks their right to vote was again infringed upon when some states passed their own laws that limited their rights. Some of the laws that limited these citizens’ rights to vote related to poll taxes and literacy tests especially designed to restrict voting by this group.
The 19th amendment, which stated that “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex,” is the amendment that granted women the right to vote. It was ratified in 1920. Women in the suffrage movement had been working for nearly one hundred years for this right, and many of the pioneers had died before women were able to cast a vote legally.
With the ratification of the 23rd amendment in 1961, the residents of Washington, D. C., gained representatives in the electoral college, which permitted them to vote for the President. With this representation, the people who live in Washington had a partial voice in our federal government. Although they are able to vote for president, they are still unrepresented in Congress (except by a nonvoting delegate), an issue which persists to this day.
The 24th amendment, which was ratified in 1964, eliminated poll taxes as a requirement to vote. This tax system, which existed since Reconstruction, required voters to pay a tax to vote. While the system was initially established to prevent the poor from voting, by the 1950s and 1960s, it had become an accepted method to ensure that African Americans/Blacks were deprived of their right to vote. To change this, and to ensure that the goals of the 15th amendment were realized, Congress passed and the states ratified the 24th amendment.
The 26th amendment, which was ratified in 1971, lowered the voting age of Americans from 21 to 18. This change occurred because the United States was involved in a war in Vietnam. This war, which was not popular, sparked widespread protest. Protesters complained that it was unfair for young men who were being drafted to fight when they weren’t allowed to vote. They had no representation in the government that sent them into battle. In fact, one common chant from protesters was, “Old Enough to Fight, Old Enough to Vote.” When this amendment was ratified, the voting age and draft age for military service became the same.
Vocabulary: suffrage, poll taxes, literacy tests, electoral college, representation
Report abuse