Today’s Agenda
• Finish 3.2 wkst. And go over it
• Begin Movie
– Issues to watch for
•
•
•
•
5th Amendment
6th Amendment
8th Amendment
Role of Free Press
• Homework
– Constitutional Scavenger Hunt Due
tomorrow
• 5 points off each day late
Chapter 3
A Look at the Constitution
3.2 Articles V Through VII
Question
• Should
same-sex
marriage
be
banned?
• How
would it
happen?
SECTION 2
Formal Amendment
• What are the different ways to formally amend,
or change the wording of, the Constitution?
• How many times has the Constitution been
amended?
• What is the Bill of Rights?
Let’s Review
• 1st ten Amendments are called….
Guarantees:
• Freedom of Speech, Religion, Assembly, Press
• States Rights
• No cruel and unusual punishment
• Due process of law
• Speedy trial / council
• Privacy
• Bear arms
• Principle of the Constitution which creates a system of overlapping
the powers of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, to
permit each branch to check the actions of the others
• Judicial branch’s power to nullify (cancel out) a law determine the
constitutionality of an action of the government
• Supreme Court Case in which Judicial Review was created
The Constitution is 224 years old!
• The United States in 1789
• US Constitution went into effect
• Less than 4 million people
• 90% involved in agricultural work
• Made up of 13 states
• Life expectancy-late 50s
• No electricity, no cars
• The United States in 2014
• 320 million Americans
• Complex and globally interconnected
economy
• 50 states
• Life expectancy- 79
• Nuclear weapons, power, Internet,
Global economy…….
• Complex social issues
How can a document written 224 years ago still be relevant today?
Overview
• When the Constitution was written,
provisions were made to allow for
amendments that would reflect the
changing needs of the people. In
Section 2, you will learn about the four
methods of formal amendment, and
will begin to examine the Bill of Rights.
What is Article V of the Constitution?
• Framers knew that
Constitution would
need to grow as the
nation grew
• Article V sets
methods to formally
amend the
Constitution
– Amendment: A
change in, or addition
to, a constitution or
law
Article V
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses
shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments
to this Constitution, or, on the application of the
legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall
call a convention for proposing amendments, which,
in either case, shall be valid to all intents and
purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified
by the legislatures of three fourths of the several
states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as
the one or the other mode of ratification may be
proposed by the Congress; provided that no
amendment which may be made prior to the year
one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any
manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the
ninth section of the first article; and that no state,
without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal
suffrage in the Senate.
What is the most common way to
propose an amend the Constitution?
• Propose means to
suggest (a change)
• Amendment can be
proposed in US
Congress by a twothirds vote
• Or
• Amendment can be
proposed by 2/3 of
states
– Who would hold a
National Convention
The Equal Rights Amendment
Federalism
How can an Amendment be ratified?
• Ratification means “to approve” What guiding principle of the Constitution is at
work here?
• Amendment can be ratified by
– three-fourths of the State
Answer: Federalism
legislatures (38 of 50 states)
– OR
– special conventions in threefourths of the States (38 of 50)
– Created as a way of bypassing
state legislatures and express
the will of the people
• Only 21st Amendment adopted in
this fashion
What Guiding Principle of the
th
– Repealed 18 (Prohibition)
Constitution is at work here?
Answer: Popular Sovereignty
Is it easy to amend the Constitution?
• NO
• Over 200
amendment
proposals every
year
• Only 27
Amendments
have been
adopted so far
Strange Proposed Amendments
1. Ban interracial marriage
(1912)
2. Making divorce illegal (1884)
3. A ban on drunkenness (1938)
4. Instead of one president,
three presidents (1878) 5. Renaming the country
"United States of the Earth"
(1893)
6. Limiting personal wealth to
$1 million (1933)
7. Abolishing Army/Navy (1893)
Article VI (6): Law of the Land
• Supremacy
Clause: States
that the
Constitution is
the Supreme
Law of the Land
• Supersedes all
state and local
law
Amendments to the Constitution
Collectively, the first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights.
They set out many of our basic freedoms.
Chapter 3, Section 2
Ticket Out
• Use pages 52-65 and Complete 3.2 Bill of Rights
worksheet