Professional Documents
Culture Documents
10.1 Introduction
Massachusetts was strongly opposed to ratifying the Constitution because it said nothing of the rights of the people. To encourage ratification, J. Hancock promised that the first thing Congress would do was add a Bill of Rights.
John Hancock
What Are the Rights? Freedoms of: religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. What can you do if these rights are violated? If these are violated, a person may challenge the government in court. The courts protect your rights If the case goes to the Supreme Court, justices will vote. 1 justice will write a majority opinion, and 1 may write a minority opinion.
2nd Amendment: The Right to Bear Arms After winning independence, Americans preferred to defend themselves with state militias. Why? They were fearful of standing armies. In order to do this, citizens required the right to own guns.