Bill of Rights: Amendments 1-3

Friday October 7, 2011 – Periods 1 & 3
Monday October 10, 2011 – Periods 4 & 6

   Today we learned that the Constitution was designed to adapt to the changing times while still preserving the basic forms and principles of government. Amendments to the Constitution may be proposed and ratified in two ways. An amendment is proposed at the national level but is ratified in a state-by-state process. One method of proposing an amendment is by a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate. The other way is for two-thirds of the states to ask Congress to call a convention. One method for ratifying a proposed amendment is for the legislatures in three-fourths of the states to vote on it.  The other method is for the states to hold special conventions and then have three-fourths of the conventions approve it.

The first 10 amendments to the Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights. They protect individual rights by limiting government powers.

  The First Amendment protects the freedoms of religion, speech, and the press, and the rights of assembly and to petition the government.

  The Second Amendment protects the rights of states to maintain a militia and of citizens to bear arms.

  The Third Amendment restricts quartering of troops in private homes.

Finally we wrote a sample Frame and Research for the American Jobs Act.