Choose from these words to fill the blanks below:

Reconstruction, worried, unfair, today, Mason, 1788, Federalists, twelve, process, attainder, facto, dangerous, states, actors, 10, amendments, tyrant, limited, Englishmen, modern, federal, changed, recommendation, branches, degree, some, bursts, homesick, Madison, missing, mundane, Progressive, power, listed

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Constitution was written in 1787 and ratified in         1788

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but that Constitution, the Founders constitution, isn't the one we live under           today

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in part because of Supreme Court decisions on                     amendments

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how judges should apply old constitutional provisions to             modern circumstances is a difficult question

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the words of the Constitution are               changed through amendments

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our history with amendments has not been one of slow and steady change, but             bursts of activity, such as these three:

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1. The Bill of Rights

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the first     10 amendments

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2. The                             Reconstruction Amendments

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followed the Civil War

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3. The                       Progressive Era Amendments

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Bill of Rights

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the original Constitution was               missing what we often think about most when we think of the Constitution: individual rights

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the original constitution has         some protections for individuals

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government cannot create ex post           facto laws

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no bills of                   attainder

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declaring someone guilty of a crime while denying that person due               process of law

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but these are               limited

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lack of protections for individual was not because people were not concerned about them

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the Americans had fought a war arguing that their rights as                     Englishmen had been taken away

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the reason the Constitutional Convention didn't add a set of individual rights to the original Constitution is a bit               mundane

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they were getting                 homesick

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they ran out of time

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every state already had a bill of rights to some             degree

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two groups

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George Washington

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Alexander Hamilton

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James               Madison

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pro-constitution

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a strong national government that would have           power over the states

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will protect us from other countries but also from the small-mindedness of state governments

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make sure that states don't do anything             unfair to individuals

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Anti-Federalists

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Thomas Jefferson

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George           Mason

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Patrick Henry

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argued that we needed a Bill of Rights

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Federalists responded that government only had limited powers anyway and couldn't invade individual rights

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other argued that a Bill of Rights would be                   dangerous

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the government could claim that individuals had no rights other than the ones             listed

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ratifying the Constitution

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5 states ratified

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Massachusetts ratified with the                             recommendation that a Bill of Rights be added

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4 of next 5 states do the same

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so when Constitution does get ratified, the Bill of Rights is one of the first things congress does

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draft a list of amendments

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send them out to the states

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there were             twelve

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two didn't make it

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the ten that did are now what we call the Bill of Rights

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to understand the Bill of Rights, you can ask three questions:

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1. what were the drafters               worried about?

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worried about the federal government

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worried it would become a             tyrant like King George did

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2. how did they try to protect us?

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gave government limited powers and divided these powers among the                 branches of government

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gave individuals certain rights, this is what the Bill of Rights does

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protects certain activities against interference from certain             actors, usually the government

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also protected state power

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the important thing to remember about the Bill of Rights is that is applies only to the               federal government

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the drafters were not worried about what the states would do to their own citizens

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in their minds, states were good and well-meaning

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3. how has their solution worked out hundreds of years later?

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the Framers thought we would have             states standing up against the federal government, but instead we have seen individuals stand up against states

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corrected:

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admendments

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amendments

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Massasschusettes

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Massachusetts