U. S. Government: Democracy In Action

Chapter 13: Constitutional Freedoms

Web Activity Lesson Plans

Introduction
In this chapter students learned about constitutional rights and the various freedoms protected by the Bill of Rights—freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly, to name a few. They also have learned that today people's rights are protected at both the state and federal level because of the nationalization of the Bill of Rights. In this activity students will take a closer look at the milestones in this process.

Lesson Description
Students will visit the American Political Science Association's Web site to learn more about the nationalization of our nation's Bill of Rights. They will read about landmark Supreme Court cases that led to amended interpretations of the Constitution and answer questions pertaining to this topic. Students will then write an essay about one of the court cases discussed on the Web site.

Instructional Objectives

1. Students will be able to recognize the connection between the Fourteenth Amendment and the issue of nationalization.
2. Students will recognize that parts of the Constitution have not been nationalized.

Student Web Activity Answers

1. The nationalization of the Bill of Rights is based on the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits the states from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without "due process of law."
2. In this case, the Supreme Court expanded the concept of due process to include substantive as well as procedural rights, which had a major impact on the nationalization of the Bill of Rights.
3. In this case, the Court ruled that a criminal trial must be fair "in fact as well as form" to uphold the standard of due process.
4. The Second and Third Amendments, the "grand jury indictment" clause of the Fifth Amendment, the Seventh Amendment's requirements of jury trials in civil cases, and the "excessive fines and bail" clause of the Eighth Amendment are the only rights expressed in the Bill of Rights that have not (yet) been nationalized.
5. Students' essays will vary.