5th Grade History Nickajack Elementary School The Bill of Rights 5th Grade History Nickajack Elementary School

When we last left you in 4th Grade The American Revolution had just ended at the Battle of Yorktown. Lord Cornwallis sent an English soldier to surrender to General George Washington while he hid away in a cave on the York River. We had won our independence from England and were our own country!!! USA! But now what?? How would we set up our government?

The Articles of Confederation The first written constitution of the United States was not the US Constitution! The Articles of Confederation were ratified on March 1, 1781 by John Dickinson, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and other representatives from the 13 states. The articles of Confederation were rushed, and the states argued a lot about how the government was set up. In 1786, the articles of Confederation were dismissed.

Why did they fail? The Founding Fathers feared giving the central government too much power like England had given the King too much power. The state governments had more power than the national government. Each of the 13 states had their own currency, so trade was very tough between states and other countries. No federal courts! A criminal could escape to another state without worries of being caught. Each state only had one vote in Congress, even though some had much higher populations! It took 9 votes to pass a bill, and almost every bill wouldn’t get the votes, so no laws were made!

Epic Fail….. So now what? A new written government had to be created. From May to September 1787 a group of men known as the Framers met. The Framers talked about what should be in the Constitution. The United States was a brand new country. The United States had a government that did not work very well. The Framers met to find a new way of running the country. This meeting is called The Convention. Some of the Framers are famous to us today. They include James Madison, Ben Franklin, and George Washington.

Drafting a new government At that time there were only 13 states. The men came from all the states except Rhode Island. Each state had ideas for the new government. The Framers had many debates. They talked a lot. They make a lot of speeches. By talking about it, they came up with a plan that everyone could agree with. They had to have a lot of compromises. Only by agreeing could all the arguments be worked out. Ben Franklin said the he was not sure if the plan was perfect. He said that it was probably as perfect as it could be.

Ratification After the Convention, the Constitution had to be approved. Actually, only nine states had to agree to, or ratify, the Constitution. But everyone wanted all 13 states to agree. Two states took a long time to decide to agree. These states were Rhode Island and North Carolina. In the end, they did agree. Once the first nine states agreed, we say the Constitution was "ratified." New Hampshire was the ninth state to ratify. http://constitutionus.com/

The Preamble The Preamble to the Constitution is an introductory, brief statement of the principles at work in the document. It reads: We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. School House Rocks! http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=the+preamble+schoolhouse+rock+lyrics&&view=detail&mid=7DF44B58BEC7CB9E6EC87DF44B58BEC7CB9E6EC8&rvsmid=30D85B5038F7F684423030D85B5038F7F6844230&fsscr=0&FORM=VDFSRV

Article 1 The first section or “article of the constitutions lays out the legislative, or law making, branch of the government. The legislature is called the Congress. It is split into two parts. The first is the House of Representatives. The second is the Senate. Each Representative comes from a district in one of the states. That person's job is to represent the people in that district. The people elect the Representative. They have the right to tell him or her how they feel about issues. There are 435 Representatives. Bigger states have more Representatives. Every state has at least one.

House of Represenatives

The US Senate The Senate is made up of 100 Senators. There are two Senators from each state. The people elect Senators. Senators should represent the interests of all of the people. When the Congress wants to pass a law, both the House and the Senate must agree to the exact same law. If they cannot agree, then the law cannot pass.

Article 2 The Executive Branch The role of the Executive is mainly to make sure the law is carried out. The President heads the Executive.

VP and the Presidential Cabinet The Executive also includes the Vice President. The Secretaries of all the departments are also in the Executive. One department is the Department of Homeland Security. Another is the Department of Education. And one more is the Department of Defense

Passing a law Before a law becomes a law, the President must agree to it. If he does not agree, he rejects, or vetoes, the law. When he vetoes a law, he sends it back to the Congress. Congress can then try to pass the law again. The President can also refuse to sign a law — if he does, it will become a law any way. The government has lots of checks and balances. This is one example of the checks and balances. The Congress must pass laws the President will agree to. The President is accountable for his decisions regarding laws.

Article 3 The last branch is the Judiciary. This includes all the federal courts, all the way up to the Supreme Court. States have their own court systems, too. The state courts are under the national courts. The role of the Judiciary is to interpret the law.

More articles There are a few more articles that give certain Powers and rights to the governments and the states. Then the Framing Fathers signed the Constitution after voting on it.

Amendments When the Constitution was written, the Framers knew their creation was not perfect. They knew that other people would have good ideas for the Constitution. They wanted to be sure that it wasn't too hard to make changes. They also wanted to be sure that it wasn't too easy. The Framers added an amendment process. An amendment to the Constitution is a change that can add to the Constitution or change an older part of it.

The Bill of Rights The Bill of Rights was passed because some people were afraid that the government would have too much power. They wanted to make sure the US Citizens had certain rights that the national governments couldn’t take away. The first 10 amendments or rights that the Framers are called the Bill of Rights. http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=bill+of+rights&&view=detail&mid=4910B0D38F0CEAB173B54910B0D38F0CEAB173B5&FORM=VRDGAR Let’s check them out 1 by 1!

Amendment 1 Freedom of Speech, Religion, and press Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Disney Bill of Rights Watch a clip from these Disney movies. Each clip goes along with one of the amendments from the Bill of Rights. We can discuss as we move through the Bill of Rights. http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=disneybill+of+rights&&view=detail&mid=13807FBF3D2DA95A392D13807FBF3D2DA95A392D&FORM=VRDGAR

Second Amendment The right to bare arms Not the right to bear arms!! The right to bare 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.

The Third Amendment No Quartering soldiers in peace No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Fourth Amendment

Bill of rights rap