5.1 Changing the Law of the Land

1. 5.1 Changing the Law of the Land

2. Changing the Law of the Land • After the Bill of Rights only 17 other amendments are ratified • Originally states only allowed white, land owning, men to be citizens • How has the idea of “We the People” changed over time?

3. Abolishing Slavery • Why did we allow slavery in the Constitution? • It would not have been approved otherwise • Southern economy (according to the plantation owners) would have collapsed • Counted slaves as 3/5 for population

4. Tension between North and South • Each side feared the growing power of the other • New states and territory were the battle ground • Missouri Compromise (1820) divided the territories into slave and free territories • Later they tried the idea of majority rule in the territories • But this leads to bloody conflict especially in Kansas

5. A Controversial Court Decision • Dred Scott Case • Dred Scott was a slave in Mizzu • Since he travelled to free states with his owner he claimed he was now free • The court however decided that slave owners were allowed to travel with their property

6. XIII Amendment • After the Civil War the 13th Amendment abolished slavery (1865) African Americans and the Right to Vote • States still had the right to decide who was considered a citizen • Most (even in the north) still denied Afr. Amer. The right to vote

7. XIV Amendment • 2 Parts • “All persons born in or naturalized in the U.S.” are citizens • No state may deny the rights of citizens with out due process of law • This is often called the 2nd Bill of Rights because it requires the states to do what the Bill of Rights does for the Constitution • It did not automatically mean equal treatment

8. XV Amendment • May not deny the right to vote based on “race, color, or” having been a slave XXIV Amendment • Made poll taxes illegal • 100 years after the Civil War citizenship was becoming real

9. Women and the Right to Vote • Women were also left out of “We the People” • Traditionally many men thought women belonged at home • These people disagreed with women having the right to vote

10. Changing that view • As more women took jobs in 1800s they became active in social and political issues • Including abolitionism • The Seneca Falls Resolution of 1848 mimicked the Declaration of Independence “…that all men and women are created equal.” • Supporters of women’s right to vote, suffragists proposed an amendment to the Constitution almost every year from 1878-1918

11. Changing that view • Wyoming was the 1st state to grant women the right to vote • Others followed, including NY in 1917 • In 1918 the Amendment was approved by Congress • In 1920 it was ratified by the states

12. Youth and the Right to Vote • XXVI Amendment 1971 • Lowered the voting age to 18 • Much of the reason for this is due to the large #s of 18-21 year olds that served in wars like WWII, Korea, and Vietnam

13. The Voice of the People • The Constitution is flexible enough to change as society changes • But written well enough that there are only 27 (15) Amendments