Name the 6 Basic Principles of our
government.
◦ Popular Sovereignty
◦ Federalism
◦ Judicial Review
◦ Limited Government
◦ Checks and Balances
◦ Separation of Powers
What are the 3 branches of our government?
◦ Legislative
◦ Executive
◦ Judicial
Chapter 3, Section 2

May be proposed by a 2/3 vote in each
house of Congress and ratified by ¾ of the
state legislatures.
◦ 38 of the State legislatures today.

Most amendments are added this way.
◦ Why use this method?
 Decision making stays out of conventions that take a lot
of time and money to organize.


Proposed by Congress and then ratified by
conventions (called for that purpose) in ¾ of
the states.
Only the 21st Amendment was added this
way.
◦ Why use this method?
 If you want the decision to stay out of the hands of the
state legislatures… i.e. taking power away from them.




Proposed by a national convention, called by
congress at the request of 2/3rds of the state
legislatures (34).
Must then be ratified by ¾ state legislatures.
This has never happened, but could…
Why use this method?
◦ If it is an amendment that is more likely to be
passed by the American people, not legislatures.

Proposed by a national convention and
ratified by conventions in ¾ of the States.
◦ The Constitution itself was adopted in much the
same way.

Why use this method??
◦ If the amendment is one that national
government officials are not likely to acceptsuch as lowering pay for congressmen.


“No State, without its Consent, shall be
deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.”
So, basically anything can be proposed, not
many amendments actually get passed, but A
LOT get proposed.
First 10 Amendments to the Constitution
Added because of the demands of the AntiFederalists during the ratification process.

Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly
and Petition.

The Right to bear Arms.
 Quartering
of Troops
◦ This amendment was intended to prevent what had
been common British practice in the colonial
period…making colonists house British troops
against their will.
 No
illegal
Searches and
Seizures
◦ Police have no general
right to search
whatever they want.
◦ Evidence gained
through an illegal
search cannot be used
in court.
 Criminal
Proceedings, Due
Process, Eminent Domain
◦ A person can only be charged for a serious federal
crime if they are accused of the crime by a grand
jury.
◦ No one can be subjected to Double Jeopardy (being
tried for the same crime twice).
◦ Protection against self incrimination.
◦ Eminent domain- the government may take private
property for public use if the owner is given a fair
price.
 Criminal
Proceedings
◦ If you are accused of a crime, you have the right to
be tried in court; in a reasonable amount of time,
by a jury.
◦ You also have the right to bring in witnesses, and
have an attorney.
 Civil
Trials
◦ Details what a Civil Trial is:
 Between private parties, or between the government
and private parties.
 A jury is guaranteed in any civil trial where the dollar
amount being fought over exceeds $20.
 Punishment
for Crimes
◦ Bail- the money that a person accused of the crime
may be required to deposit with the court as a
guarantee that he or she will appear in court at the
proper time.
 The amount of bail must be reasonable for the crime
that they are being accused.
 Ex- $2 million bail for shoplifting a video game…not
reasonable.
 Unenumerated
Rights
◦ Just because the government sets out specific rights
for it’s citizens, that doesn’t mean that they are
denied any rights that were not added.
 Powers
States
Reserved to the
◦ If the US Constitution does not guarantee a specific
right, the states are given permission to grant those
rights to their citizens.
 Added because the Anti-Federalists were strong
believers in states’ rights.

Come up with a new amendment to the
Constitution (in groups of 2-4)- must be
appropriate!






Write it out as it will be proposed to the
government (sounding constitutional).
Choose which way you will go about getting it
past (which of the 4 methods…think carefully
about which one would be the best method).
Explain why you chose that method.
(A LIST OF THE 27 CURRENT AMENDMENTS ARE
ON PAGE 76)
Must present to the class.
Write each group member’s name on your paper
and turn in after presentation.