 INDIVIDUALS › Humans autonomous and self-governing › Each possesses certain fundamental rights  Freedom of thought, privacy and movement › Declaration of Independence  “All Men are created Equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights”  CLASSES OR CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS › Classes are recognized in law to hold specific rights › Children, Mentally Ill, Veterans  INSTITUTIONS › Schools, Government at state, local & national levels, unions, corporations, etc

 PERSONAL RIGHTS › Freedom of Thought, Privacy, & Movement › Individuals are self-governing with natural rights at birth › Government’s purpose is to protect those rights  ECONOMIC RIGHTS › Choosing the work you wish to do › Acquiring property, entering into contracts › Protecting Intellectual Properties (patent, copyright) › Right to join unions, professional organizations  POLITICAL RIGHTS › Right to participate in the your government › Vote, run for office, participate in campaigns › Support/work against political issues

 Relationship between individual and government  POSITIVE RIGHTS: require gov’t to act in specific ways › Right to receive certain services from the government  Public education, Defense from attack › Guarantee to a speedy and fair trial › Gov’t create courts to protect society  NEGATIVE RIGHTS: restrict gov’t action › 1 st Amendment-Congress shall make no laws that violate fundamental rights to freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly, and petition

9 th – Rights Reserved by the People Impossible to list all the rights/liberties that should be protected Does not increase power of national government in areas NOT mentioned in the first 8 amendments It commands judges and Congress to affirm rights NOT mentioned in the Constitution 10 th – Rights Reserved to the States Federalism is supported but doesn’t expand on it It protects the powers of the states AGAINST the national gov’t

 A. Hamilton argued that the Constitution itself WAS a bill of rights › Each provision was a limit on governmental powers  17 Amendments added since Bill of Rights › Many of these protect political rights, particularly the right to vote

 Initial reaction split › Some believed it unnecessary, maybe even damaging to the new federal government › Others viewed as way to alter the Constitution to do more to protect the people from an abuse of power › Reality was that the Bill of Rights has LITTLE EFFECT of the lives of ordinary citizens of the day. It applied only to the federal government, which was not what most people dealt with  Single most important document ever to protect the rights of people › 14 th Amendment extended the reach of the Bill of Rights to the states › Recent polls show Americans have a limited knowledge as to what is in the Bill of Rights and how it protects them personally