MATC Downtown Learning Center On-Line GED/HSED

5/27/2019

Study Guide for Civics 7

MATC Downtown Learning Center On-Line GED/HSED

Study Guide 7 for Civics

Individual Rights and Responsibilities

Constitutional amendments and individual rights.

Amendment 1

Freedom of Religion

Freedom of Speech

Freedom of Expression (Right to a free press and the right to petition the government based on one’s personal opinion.)

Freedom to assemble in a group

Amendment 2

The right of a citizen to bear arms for protection is indicated but not clearly defined.

Amendment 4

The right to protection from unreasonable searches or seizures of themselves or their property by the government

Amendment 5

The right against self-incrimination

The right to be protection from excesses by law enforcement

The right to due process by law

The right to be tried only once for the same offense

The right to reasonable compensation if property is taken for public use

Amendment 6

The right to a speedy, public trial, with constitutional protections, by a jury in a criminal case

Amendment 7

The right to trial by jury in a civil case

Amendment 8

The right to reasonable bail, fines and punishments by the government

Amendment 9

Rights that are not described in the constitution are not denied by the constitution.

Amendment 14

The right of all people who are citizens to the rights of citizenship and equal protection by the law

Amendment 19

The right not to be barred from voting based on gender.

Amendment 26

The right to vote at age 18

Amendments 13, 14 and 15

Amendment 13

“Amendment XIII

1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

“2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” Constitution

Congress passed this amendment near the end of the Civil War. The amendment states that there shall not be slavery or involuntary servitude except for punishment from a U.S. court. The states that left the Union during the Civil War had to ratify the amendment to be allowed back into the Union. However, some states were let back in without this happening. (3)

Amendment 14

“Amendment XIV

1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any

State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

“2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the

proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

“3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

“4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred

in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

“5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.” Constitution

This amendment describes the right of citizens including the statement that all people born in the U.S. are U.S. citizens.

“The original plan to readmit states after acceptance of the 13th was supported by President Andrew Johnson… The South did not make it easy for Johnson, however, and the so-called Black Codes started to be passed in Southern states. Congressional inquiries into the Black Codes found them to be a new way of controlling ex-slaves, fraught with violence and cruelty.

“The ensuing Reconstruction Acts placed the former CSA states (Confederate States) under military rule, and prohibited their congressmen's readmittance to Congress until after several steps had been taken, including the approval of the 14th Amendment. The 14th was designed to ensure that all former slaves were granted automatic United States citizenship, and that they would have all the rights and privileges as any other citizen. The amendment passed Congress on June 13, 1866, and was ratified on July 9, 1868.” (3)

Amendment 15

“Amendment XV

1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or

previous condition of servitude.

“2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” Constitution

This amendment states that race can not be used to keep someone from voting. This was the last of the reconstruction amendments after the civil War and it was intended to keep the southern states from barring ex-slaves from voting based on their race. (3)

Amendment 19

“Amendment XIX

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

“Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” Constitution

Advocates for allowing women to vote tried for over 75 years to get each state to pass laws to give women the right to vote. By 1914, only 11 states had done so. The Supreme Court determined that the 15th amendment did not give women the write to vote as a protected class. (4)

“When the United States entered World War I as a declared effort to save democracy, political wisdom dictated that one could not send Americans to fight and die for an ideal overseas while denying it to half the population at home. President Woodrow Wilson, who had originally opposed such an amendment, now endorsed it; and Congress approved a constitutional amendment in June 1919. The necessary 36 states ratified the proposed amendment in less than a year, in time for women to vote in the 1920 presidential election.”(5)

Individual and Societal Rights

“This duality of possibilities creates the dilemmas faced by many civil societies.

“Consider these examples: [You can pick a few and write your own opinion.]

“Societal dilemma #1: Individual beliefs versus majority rule” (6)

“Societal dilemma #2: The need to obey the law versus the right to dissent” (6)

“Societal dilemma #3: The appreciation for cultural variety versus the need for cultural unity” (6)

“Societal dilemma #4: Individual rights versus the concern for public safety” (6)

“Societal dilemma #5: The need for national security versus the right for individuals to have access to information” (6)

“Societal dilemma #6: The desirability for free enterprise versus the need for public planning” (6)

“Societal dilemma #7: Power of the people versus power of the government” (6)

“Societal dilemma #8: Right to privacy versus the right of the public to know” (6)

The impact of Supreme Court decisions

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. A decision by the justices of the Supreme Court determines how a law must be interpreted until there is further legislation from congress or a constitutional amendment. The impact of these final decisions depends primarily on how many and how dramatically people are affected.

If very few people are affected and the affect is not very significant, then the impact is small. If many people are affected and the affect is dramatic, then the impact is very important. If a case is in the latter category, it is considered a landmark case. Examples of landmark cases include decisions to desegregate the schools, allow abortions, allow women to vote, and require people to be read their rights when arrested.

Usually the Supreme Court accepts a case because it requires an interpretation of the constitution that is useful in the determination of future cases by lower courts. In this way, the impact of their decisions is quite widespread because the ruling may influence many related cases in lower courts throughout the United States

Sources

Cyberlearning-World. Bill of Rights Explained. Retrieved May 1, 2004 from
Legal Information Institute. Bill of Rights. Retrieved May 1, 2004 from http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.billofrights.html
Mount, Steve. Constitutional Topic: Martial Law. USConstitution.net. 30 Nov 2001. (3 Dec 2001)
Findlaw. U.S. Constitution 19th amendment. Retrieved May 1, 2004 from
U.S. Info State Gov. The Right to Vote. Retrieved May 1, 2004 from http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/rightsof/vote.htm
Language and Civil Society. Societal Dilemas: Finding a Balance. Fredricka L. Stoller. Retrieved May 1, 2004 from http://exchanges.state.gov/forum/journal/civ7background.htm
U.S. Courts. The Federal Judiciary. Retrieved May 7, 2004 from http://www.uscourts.gov/about.html