United States Constitution
Interactive Cloze Activity
United States Constitution
Interactive Cloze Activity
The Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights guarantees certain rights to citizens. We will study those rights during the next few
days. In addition, citizens have duties and responsibilities.
Duties are things we are required to do:
Responsibilities are voluntary and not required:
________Obey
___Be
________Pay
the Laws____________
Taxes_________________
________Defend
________Serve
the Nation__________
in Court______________
________Attend
School______________
Informed___________________
___Vote___________________________
___Participate
in Government_____
___Respect
the Rights of Others___
___Respect
Diversity_______________
The first 10 Amendments to the Constitution were adopted in 1791.
First Amendment
1. Freedom of religion.
2. Freedom of the press.
3. Freedom of speech.
4. Right to peacefully assemble.
5. Right to petition your grievances to the government.
Second Amendment
A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to
keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
Interpreted to mean that citizens have the right to own guns.
Third Amendment
No soldiers shall be quartered in private homes during peace time.
Fourth Amendment
1. Right to privacy.
2. Freedom from illegal searches.
3 . Freedom from being wrongly arrested.
• A warrant is a document giving the police the right to make a search or to make an arrest.
Fifth Amendment
Protection for those accused of crimes.
1. Can be indicted by a grand jury of whose purpose it is to determine whether there is
enough evidence against you to hold a trial.
2. No double jeopardy - once you have been found innocent in a jury trial, that case is closed.
3. You don't have to be a witness against yourself.
4. Accused people should not lose their lives, liberty, or property without due process of law.
• due process - a limit of the power of government so that it acts fairly according to the
law.
United States Constitution
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• eminent domain - if your property is being used for public use ( a highway, for example),
you must be paid a fair price for the property.
Sixth Amendment
1. Protects the rights of the accused.
a. You have the right to a speedy and public trial.
b. You have the right to a fair/impartial trial by a jury of your peers.
c.
The trial should be held in the state and district where the crime took place.
• change of venue (location)
d. You have the right to know what you are being tried for (habeas corpus).
e. You have the right to see, hear, and question witnesses against you in the
courtroom.
• Subpoena - allows you to have people who can help you in your trial come to court. A
subpoena forces them to come to provide testimony on your behalf.
f. You have the right to a lawyer.
• Public defender-a lawyer appointed for you if you cannot afford one.
Seventh Amendment
You have the right to a jury trial if the case involves more than $20.
• small claims court up to $3,000.
Eighth Amendment
1. No excessive bail
a. Money paid to get out of jail until your trial occurs.
b. If it is a serious crime, bail is set very high.
c.
The money helps make certain that you will show up for your trial.
• At that time you will get your money back less 1% for court costs.
• A bail bondsman provides bail for the accused at a cost of 10% of the bail set.
2. No excessive fines - fines that are too high; therefore, unfair for the crime done.
3. No cruel or unusual punishments for those found guilty of a crime.
Ninth Amendment
Even though certain rights are not enumerated in the Constitution, you still have them.
Tenth Amendment
Powers not given to the federal government are reserved for the states and the people. Example:
marriage, education, etc.
and BEYOND. . .
Eleventh Amendment - 1795
Rules for lawsuits against slaves. People in one state, or foreigners, cannot sue another state in
federal court.
Twelfth Amendment - 1804
Allowed voters to vote for the president and vice president on separate ballots so that members of
the same political party would not be running against each other for the presidency.
United States Constitution
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Thirteenth Amendment - 1865
Abolishes slavery.
Frederick Douglass, was a self-educated man, born into slavery. He ran away as a teenager.
He became a strong advocate for the abolition of slavery. A gifted speaker, Douglass traveled
throughout American and Europe, delivering speeches and publishing his abolitionist newspaper,
the North Star. His home in upstate New York became a station on the Underground Railroad.
Douglas was helped by other leading abolitionists, such as Sojourner Truth and William Lloyd
Garrison Eventually, slavery was abolished as a result of the Civil War, the Emancipation
Proclamation, and the Thirteenth Amendment.
Fourteenth Amendment - 1868
Guarantees citizenship, due process and equal protection under the law.
Fifteenth Amendment - 1870
Voting rights for former slaves.
Sixteenth Amendment - 1913
The power of the federal government to collect income taxes.
Seventeenth Amendment - 1913
Election of senators by the people.
Eighteenth Amendment - 1918
Bans the sale of alcohol - prohibition. (Volsted Act)
Nineteenth Amendment - 1920
Gives women the right to vote.
Twentieth Amendment - 1933
Sets the date when president's and Congress's terms begin
• President and vice president - noon on January 20th.
• Congress - noon on January 3rd.
Twenty-first Amendment - 1933
Repeals the Eighteenth Amendment.
Twenty-second Amendment - 1951
Limits the president to two terms.
• Cannot hold office for more than 10 years.
Twenty-third Amendment- 1961
Gives people in the District of Columbia the right to vote for president.
Twenty-fourth Amendment - 1964
Forbids having to pay a tax to vote - poll tax.
Twenty-fifth Amendment - 1967
Says who is next in line if something happens to the president.
Twenty-sixth Amendment- 1971
Sets the voting age at 18 years of age.
Twenty-seventh Amendment - 1992
Congressional pay raises take effect after an election of representatives has taken place
United States Constitution
Interactive Cloze Activity
Name _________________________________
The U.S. Constitution is divided into 7 Articles (sections). We will focus mainly on Articles I, II, and III
which deal with the branches of our federal government. Using your textbook answer the following
questions. For any questions that are marked In Class, you may skip those for now as we will discuss
and answer those as a class, use PAGES 228-239.
PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION
Write the Preamble to the Constitution Below:
We the People of the United States in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish
Justice, insure [sic] domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defence [sic], promote the general
Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.
MEMORIZE THIS PREAMBLE:
You will recite this Preamble on Friday 3/1/13
What the Preamble Means to Us:
The government should value and protect the rights of citizens.
Everyone should be treated equally and fairly under the law.
The government has the responsibility to protect its citizens against foreign attack.
All states should work together as a unified nation.
The government has the responsibility to promote the well-being of its citizens.
United States Constitution
Interactive Cloze Activity
Article I
Article I of the United States Constitution sets out the rules, guidelines and
responsibilities of the ____LEGISLATIVE______ branch. This main job of this
branch is to ___MAKE_______ __LAWS_____.
____CONGRESS_____ is ____BICAMERAL_____, which means that it is made up
from 2 parts. There is an upper house and a lower house. Please label the following
diagram.
SENATE
Upper House
CONGRESS
HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
Lower House
U.S. House of
Representatives
When a citizen is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives they will serve a _2__
year term. There are 3 basic requirements that one must meet to be a U.S.
Representative.
1. ____Must be a U.S. Citizen for 7 years_______________________
2. ____Must be 25 years old________________________
3. ____Must be a resident of the district and state in you will represent__
National Census
The census is taken every _10__ years. The main purpose of the census is to
determine the population which allows each state’s _Congressional _______
___Representation_____ to be determined.
United States Constitution
Interactive Cloze Activity
In Class
The Constitution provided for at least one representative for each state. Originally,
there was one representative for every 30,000 people. Today the ratio of people per
representative is ____710,767_____: ___1__
States with the largest populations have the most Representatives.

The top ten states (including 3 that are tied) are the following:
California
Texas
New York
Florida
Illinois
53
36
27
27
18
Pennsylvania 18
Ohio
16
Michigan
14
Georgia
14
North Carolina 13
New Jersey
12
There are 7 states whose population only qualifies them for 1 U.S. Representative,
these are;
1. ____Montana_____ 2. _____Wyoming_____ 3. ___North Dakota_______
4. ____South Dakota______ 5. ____Delaware_____ 6. ____Vermont______
7. ___Alaska______
When a citizen is elected to the U.S. Senate they will serve a _6__ year term. There
U.S. Senate
are 3 basic requirements that one must meet to be a U.S. Representative.
1. __ Must be a minimum of 30 years old _______
2. ___ Must be a citizen of the United States for 9 years _____
3. __ Must be a resident of the state from which he/she is running
United States Constitution
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Originally, the Constitution provided for Senators to be selected, not elected, by
_State Legislature_____. Through the amendment process this was changed and after
the _17th __ Amendment was passed citizens elected their Senators.
Senate Leaders The Vice-President of the United States serves as the __President of the Senate___.
As every state is entitled to __2__ Senators, the possibility of a ___tie___ during
voting exists. Please explain what the only job of the Vice-President is as a member
of the U.S. Senate. ______BREAK TIE VOTES___________________
____________________________________________________________________.
Article II
Article II describes the rules and regulations for the _EXECUTIVE_____ branch of
our government. The main job of this branch is to __ENFORCE OR CARRY OUT
LAWS__. The head of this branch is the ___PRESIDENT______.
Presidency The President must meet 3 requirements to be eligible for election.
1. __ Must be a native-born__ citizen __________________.
2. ___Must be 35 years old.____________________________.
3. ___Must be a resident of the U.S. for 14 years (does not have to be consecutive)_.
The Constitution sets the length of term for the President at __4 years_____.
Originally, there were no limits on the number of terms a President could serve,
although most Presidents followed the example of __GEORGE WASHINGTON___
who set many precedents for the U.S. Presidency. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was
elected to 4 terms of office. Congress decided to limit a President to _2_ terms or
_10_ total years. The __22ND _ Amendment created term limits for the President.
Also, the Constitution originally provided that the 2nd place finisher in voting became
the Vice President of the United States. According to this original format our current
President would be Barrack Obama and his Vice President would be John McCain!
This dysfunctional relationship was later avoided when the 12TH _ Amendment was
passed allowing voters to select vote for a Presidential and Vice Presidential
candidate of the same political party.
United States Constitution
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Electoral College The President of the United States is actually elected by the _ELECTORAL
COLLEGE.
Whichever candidate wins a state’s popular vote is entitled to the state’s
ELECTORAL vote. A state’s electoral vote count uses the following formula
Senators + Representatives= State’s Total Electoral Vote. Using this formula answer
the following electoral college questions.
How many electoral votes does Ohio have? __18___
What is the smallest amount of electoral votes a state could have? _3___
Identify one state that has the smallest amount of electoral votes. _______________
The total number of electoral votes is the House of Representatives (435) + Senators
+ Washington D.C. (3)= ___538______ total votes.
To win the Presidency a candidate must win a simple majority (more than 50%) of
electoral college votes. Therefore the magic number of votes needed to be President
of the United States is _270___. An electoral tie could occur at __269_ to _269__.
In the event of an electoral tie, or if no candidate receives a majority of the votes
explain how the President is selected.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
“Losing Winners” ____________________________________________________________________
It is possible to have more popular votes than your opponent and still lose an
election if the other person has more electoral votes. Four times in United States
history, a candidate for President who received the most votes of the people failed to
gain office. The "losing winners:"
~1824 - Andrew Jackson lost to John Quincy Adams,
~1876 - Samuel J. Tilden lost to Rutherford B. Hayes
~1888 - Grover Cleveland lost to Benjamin Harrison
~2000 - Al Gore lost to George W. Bush
United States Constitution
Interactive Cloze Activity
Line of Succession In Class
If the President dies in office or is unable to fulfill their duties as President he or she
would be followed by (complete the list that follows):
1. President
2. _Vice President______________
3. _Speaker of the House_________
4. President Pro-Tempore
5. Each cabinet member in order of their creation (15)
6. _99 Remaining Senators________
7. _434 Remaining Members of the House__
8. The Armed Forces of the United States
Identify the amendment that created this hierarchy. Explain why you think they
created this amendment. (Hint: What was going on during the time period
Congress created this new amendment)
___25th_________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Article III
The final branch of our federal system of government is the _JUDICIAL____ branch.
Their job is to ___JUDGE/ INTERPRET______. They will decide whether laws or
actions of the government follow the Constitution, if they don’t then they will be
declared ____UNCONSTITUTIONAL________. This power to examine and declare
governmental actions/laws illegal is known as __JUDICIAL_____ ___REVIEW__.
According to the Constitution there must be how many members of the Supreme
United States Constitution
Interactive Cloze Activity
Court? ____NONE MENTIONED___. Justices are appointed for how long?
__LIFE____
In Class
Currently there are _9__ members of the Supreme Court. The leader of the Supreme
Court is known as the ____CHIEF___ ____JUSTICE___, he is __JOHN___
__ROBERTS_____.
The other members of the Supreme Court are known as ____ASSOCIATE____
__JUSTICES____
They are ____ANTONIN SCALIA________, _____ANTHONY KENNEDY_____,
__CLARENCE THOMAS________, __RUTH BADER GINSBURG___________,
__STEPHEN BREYER________, ____SAMUEL ALITO_______,
__SONIA SOTOMAYER__________, ____ELENA KAGAN________.
Supreme Court Cases are decided by ____SIMPLE MAJORITY___________.