1. The Bill of Rights

3. Civil Liberties
Freedoms to think and act without government interference or fear of unfair legal treatment

4. The 1st Amendment Protects…
Freedom of religion
Freedom of speech
Freedom of the press
Freedom of assembly
Freedom to petition the government

8. Censorship
The banning of printed materials or films due to alarming or offensive ideas

14. Petition
A formal request

16. Slander
spoken untruths that are harmful to someone’s reputation

17. Libel
written untruths that are harmful to someone’s reputation

18. 4th Amendment
Protects Americans “against unreasonable searches and seizures”
Requires any government agent wanting to search your property would need a search warrant

20. Search Warrant
A court order allowing law enforcement officers to search a suspect’s home or business and take specific items as evidence
Issued by a judge

21. 5th Amendment Protects the rights of people accused
Protects people from being put on trial for a serious federal crime without an indictment
Protects people from double jeopardy
Protects people from having to testify against themselves (the right to remain silent)
Guarantees people due process
Limits the government’s power of eminent domain

22. Indictment A formal charge by a group of citizens called a grand jury
Is needed before a citizen can be put on trial for a serious federal crime

23. Grand Jury
A group of citizens that review evidence against the accused

24. Double Jeopardy
Putting someone on trial for a crime of which he or she was previously acquitted

25. Due Process
Following established legal procedures

27. Eminent Domain
The right of the government to take private property (usually land) for public use

28. 6th Amendment
Requires that a person who has been accused of a crime be told the exact nature of the charges against them
The accused is entitled to have a lawyer
Guarantees a speedy trial
The accused must be given a trial by jury (unless they choose a trial by judge)

30. 8th Amendment
Gives the accused the choice to wait for their trial in jail, or to pay bail to remain free while they wait
Forbids excessive bail
Forbids “cruel and unusual punishment”
(Example: 20 years in prison for a parking ticket)

31. Bail
A sum of money used as a security deposit to ensure that an accused person returns for his or her trial

33. 2nd Amendment States rights to keep a well regulated militia
Protects an individuals right to keep and bear arms

35. Militia
Small, local army made up of volunteer soldiers

37. 7th Amendment
Gives citizens the right to have a jury trial in civil cases over $20 if they choose, though it is not required

38. Civil Case
A lawsuit that involves a disagreement between people rather than a crime.

39. 9th Amendment
Citizens have other rights beyond those listed in the Constitution
The right to privacy is not mentioned in the Constitution

41. 10th Amendment
any powers the Constitution does not directly give to the national government are reserved for the states and the people
The United States government can only have the powers the people give to it

42. Bill of Rights First 10 amendments of the Constitution
Only protected the rights of white men

43. 13th Amendment (1865)
Officially outlawed slavery in the United States

44. Black Codes
Laws passed by Southern states to limit the rights of African Americans

45. 14th Amendment (1868)
Defined a United States citizen as anyone “born or naturalized in the United States.”
Guarantees all citizens “equal protection of the laws”

47. 15th Amendment (1870)
States that no state may take away a person’s voting rights on the basis of race, color or previous enslavement.
Meant to guarantee suffrage to African Americans
Only protected men

48. Suffrage
The right to vote

50. 19th Amendment (1920)
Protected the right of women to vote in all national and state elections.

51. Washington D.C.
Area between Virginia and Maryland where the Federal government operates
Not a state
D.C. stands for the District of Columbia

52. Poll Taxes
A sum of money required of voters before they are permitted to cast a ballot
Poll taxes are now illegal

53. Discrimination
Unfair treatment based on prejudice against a certain group

55. Jim Crow Laws
Required African Americans and whites to be separated in most public places, such as schools

57. Segregation
System of social separation of the races

58. Civil Rights
The rights of full citizenship and equality under the law

60. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
Works through the courts to challenge laws and traditions that deny African Americans the rights given to them by the Constitution

63. Freedom Riders
White and African American’s who traveled on buses to protest segregation

65. Affirmative Action
Programs intended to make up for past discrimination by helping minority groups and women gain access to jobs and opportunities
Encouraged the hiring and promoting minorities and women

67. Racial Profiling
Singling out an individual as a suspect due to appearance of ethnicity