Becca’s Blog

Okay, last time I talked about the Constitution. That’s one of the big, important documents in American government that is likely to be on the GED test somewhere! Well, one of the most important parts of the Constitution is the Bill of Rights. That’s the first ten Amendments to the Constitution…added at the end. They’re a pretty big deal, so let’s talk about them. Here’s what the amendments say, in simple language:

The First Amendment:

• The U.S. government can’t have a religion or make laws to force people to follow a religion or stop people from following their religion.
• The U.S. government can’t stop freedom of speech or of the press…people can say what they want!
• The U.S. government can’t stop people from getting together to protest.

The Second Amendment:

• To be secure, people need a militia, or an armed force, so people have the right to keep and carry guns.

The Third Amendment:

• Here’s a good one! The army can’t make people house soldiers in their homes, except under appropriate laws during a war. Bet you didn’t know that!

The Fourth Amendment:

• People have a right to the security of their homes, themselves, and their possessions, so the government can’t search you or your property without a warrant based on good reasons for the search that describes where they’re searching and what they’re looking for.

The Fifth Amendment:

• No one can be held for a crime unless they’ve been indicted by a grand jury, unless they’re in the army or serving in a war.
• No one can be tried for a crime again after they’ve already been found not guilty.
• No one can be forced to testify against themselves or punished without a trial or hearing.
• The government can’t take your property from you for public use without paying you for it.

The Sixth Amendment:

• Anyone accused of a crime has a right to a quick and public trial with a jury. You have the right to know what you’re being tried for and what the evidence is against you, and you have a right to confront the witnesses against you. You must be given a lawyer and have a way to force people to testify, if they’re witnesses for your defense.

The Seventh Amendment:

• In civil lawsuits of more than $20.00 (that was a lot more back then!) the trial must have a jury.
• Jury’s decisions can’t be overthrown by other courts, except as allowed by law.

The Eighth Amendment:

• You can’t be charged “excessive” bail or fines.
• You can’t be punished with “cruel and unusual” punishments.

The Ninth Amendment:

• Just because these amendments list some rights doesn’t mean that’s the only rights the people should have or that the people’s other rights are less important.

The Tenth Amendment:

• Any power not given to the government by the Constitution, or not disallowed to state governments by the Constitution, is a power that belongs to the state governments or to the people. In other words, the U.S. government does not have any power that’s not in the Constitution.

So, what did you think of those? Did any of them surprise you? People fight over what they mean…like the right to have guns. Does it mean there shouldn’t be any laws for gun registration or things like that? What do you think? And what about the ninth and tenth amendments? Why are they there? Does the government really follow these amendments?

Next time I’ll have a practice question for your GED studying.

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.