EOC Review Week 2

Day 2

Impact of the Constitution The Bill of Rights protects individual rights The 5th amendment protects our natural rights from the federal gov. The 14th amendment protects us from the state gov.

Social, political, and economic systems rely on individual rights and freedoms In order for the government to represent the people well, the people’s right to express their opinion on issues and concerns to the government needs to be protected The government must balance individual rights with the need to protect society Eminent Domain allows the gov. to take private property for public interest. But they must pay for the property (5th amendment)

The Impact The government’s job is to protect both the Constitution and public interest. Some who argue that protecting the public interest may result in the loss of individual rights and others who argue that protecting individual rights may result in a loss to the public interest.

Voting Rights The 13th Amendment, ratified in 1865, made slavery illegal in the United States. The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, stated that anyone born in the United States was a citizen of the United States and that they had the same rights as any other citizen of the United States. The 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, stated specifically that race could not be a factor in denying someone the right to vote

The 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920 eliminated discrimination in voting based on gender. The 24th Amendment, ratified in 1964, said that failure to pay a poll tax could not be a reason for a person to be denied the right to vote. The 26th Amendment, ratified in 1971, said that any United States citizen age 18 or older could vote when up to that point the federal government, and some states, allowed only persons age 21 or older to vote.

Impact These amendments did NOT stop discrimination. More laws had to be passed to protect citizens: Civil Rights Act of 1964 Voting Rights Act of 1965 (banned literacy tests) Civil Rights Act of 1965

Landmark Cases Click on the bullet point below to view each document. Civil Liberties Impact Civil Rights

Guiding Questions 1) What is more important: individual rights or the public interest? 2) Why are Landmark Supreme Court cases so important?