1. Republicanism
People elect representatives to create and enforce laws

2. The Bill of Rights

3. The Bill of Rights
Added to appease the Anti-Federalists- those who feared a national government with too much power.
Many, like T.J., agreed to support the Constitution only if a listing of basic rights were added right away.
Today, it is the first 10 amendments, but it originally included 12
Ratified in 1791, 2 years after the Constitution

4. Answer in your notebook
Why did the colonists fear they would not have these freedoms under a federal government?
Where did the colonists express their feelings on their rights being trampled on?
From which 3 documents did the Bill of Rights evolve from?

5. In your own words….
In your notebook, write down what you think each amendment means.

6. Tweeting the Bill of Rights
Work in your group to compose a Tweet for each of the first ten amendments
Tweet Guidelines
Accurately & briefly summarize the amendment
140 characters or less (letters, numbers, punctuation, & spaces count!)
NO outside sources!
Use your own words
Example for 18th amendment
Can’t sell, make or transport liquor.

7. Turner High School Bill of Rights Mini-Project In this activity, you will explore which 10 rights or freedoms are most important to you as a high school student at Turner.
Write ten new “rules” for Turner that summarize the rights you want to maintain at school.
Create your own title.
Be fancy.
Complete a rough draft.
All group members must sign final draft.
Think about what Turner may look like in 5, 10, 20 or even 100 years.
Remember- they must be able to stand the test of time and not infringe on any current school or district rules.

8. Formal Amendments

9. Formal Amendments
Article V outlines the ways to amend the Constitution
An amendment is a change or addition to the Constitution
Thousands of amendments have been proposed, but only 33 have been sent to states and 27 have been ratified

10. Amending the Constitution
There are 4 methods
The process emphasizes federalism & popular sovereignty. Why?
Amendments cannot be vetoed

12. How long does it take? Average is about 1 year, 8 months
Has varied widely, from a few months to over 200 years!
Shortest
26th Amendment: voting age lowered to 18
3 months, 8 days
Longest
27th Amendment: Congressional Pay
Ratified in 1992, took 202 years (It was part of the Bill of Rights that was not ratified in the late 1700s)

13. Some Notable Amendments
The Bill of Rights took a little over 2 years to ratify (Originally had 12 amendments)
Only amendment to be repealed?
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) fell just 3 states short of ratification in 1982

31. The amendments tell us something about society at the time
What do you know about what was going on in the U.S. when these amendments were proposed?

32. 13th, 14th, 15th

33. 22nd

34. 24th

35. 26th