Constitutional Rights and Incorporation: Extending and Protecting Basic Rights in the United States

1. Constitutional Rights • Key Terms • human rights, incorporation • Find Out • • How did the Supreme Court extend many rights mentioned in the first 10 amendments to the Constitution? • • Why is the Constitution of the United States considered to be a living document? Section 1 Introduction-1

2. Constitutional Rights • Understanding Concepts • Civic ParticipationWhat general assumptions about its citizens does a democratic government make? • Section Objective • Discuss constitutional rights and the importance of the nationalization of the Bill of Rights. Section 1 Introduction-2

3. The Fourteenth Amendment, which grants citizenship and fundamental rights to African Americans, was intended to protect the rights of freed African Americans in the South. The amendment was passed in June 1866, but was not ratified by the states until July 1868. The ratification process took so long because many southern states were against equal rights for African Americans. The federal government encouraged ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment by making it a requirement for southern states that wanted to be readmitted into the Union. Section 1-1

4. I. Constitutional Rights (pages 355–357) • A. The Constitution guarantees the basic rights of United States citizens in the Bill of Rights. • B. Today, the Bill of Rights protects the rights of individuals not only from actions of the federal government but also from actions of state and local governments. • C. The Bill of Rights was intended to protect against the actions of the federal government. Section 1-2

5. I. Constitutional Rights (pages 355–357) • D. A process called incorporation extended the Bill of Rights to all levels of government. • E. The Fourteenth Amendment, added in 1868, paved the way for a major expansion of individual rights by the due process clause, which Supreme Court rulings have interpreted as applying to all levels of government. Section 1-3

6. I. Constitutional Rights (pages 355–357) • F. The Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment nationalized the Bill of Rights, thus giving citizens in every part of the United States the same basic rights. • G. The incorporation of the Bill of Rights has meant that, in practice, citizens who believe state and local governments have denied them their constitutional rights can take their cases to federal courts, including the Supreme Court. Section 1-4

7. I. Constitutional Rights (pages 355–357) How was the Bill of Rights expanded so that citizens in all parts of the United States now enjoy the same basic rights? By a process called incorporation. Section 1-5

8. Checking for Understanding • 1. Main Idea Use a graphic organizer like the one below to show the effects of incorporation on the scope of the Bill of Rights. • Effect: The Bill of Rights grew to protect citizens on the state as well as federal level. Section 1 Assessment-1

9. Checking for Understanding • 2. Define human rights, incorporation. • Human rights are fundamental freedoms. • Incorporation is a process that extended the protections of the Bill of Rights against the actions of state and local governments; the process of setting up a legal community under state law. Section 1 Assessment-2

10. Checking for Understanding • 3. Identify Bill of Rights, Fourteenth Amendment. • The Bill of Rights are the first ten amendments of the Constitution that guarantee basic rights. • The Fourteenth Amendment defined citizenship and laid the groundwork for making individual rights national. Section 1 Assessment-3

11. Checking for Understanding • 4. Analyze the impact of the incorporation of the Bill of Rights. • Incorporation extended the Bill of Rights to protect citizens from all levels of government in the United States. Section 1 Assessment-4

12. Checking for Understanding • 5. Cite the branch of government that has been primarily responsible for the incorporation of the Bill of Rights. • the judicial branch (the Supreme Court) Section 1 Assessment-5

13. Critical Thinking • 6. Making Inferences When it came time to submit the new Constitution to the states for ratification, why do you think state leaders insisted on a national Bill of Rights? • They feared the potential power and abuses of the national government. Section 1 Assessment-6

14. Civic Participation Some people have argued that all Americans should be required to perform some type of compulsory service. Write an editorial for a newspaper either supporting or opposing the idea of compulsory service. Section 1 Concepts in Action