The Bill of Rights
Ten lessons, one for each of the first ten amendments: the exact text, what it plainly means, what the men who wrote and ratified it intended, the Supreme Court cases that shaped it, and what it means for you today.
Federal10 lessons
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Start the course- The First Amendment: Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly and PetitionFive freedoms in one sentence, and why the Founders put conscience first.
- The Second Amendment: The Right to Keep and Bear ArmsWhy the Founders protected an armed citizenry, and how the Supreme Court reads the right today.
- The Third Amendment: No Soldiers in Your HomeA grievance from 1776 that still guards the privacy of the home.
- The Fourth Amendment: Searches, Seizures and WarrantsProbable cause, particular warrants, and your phone.
- The Fifth Amendment: Grand Juries, Double Jeopardy, Self-Incrimination, Due Process and TakingsFive protections for the accused and for property owners.
- The Sixth Amendment: A Fair Criminal TrialSpeedy and public trial, an impartial jury, confrontation, witnesses and counsel.
- The Seventh Amendment: Civil JuriesWhy the Founders wanted citizens, not only judges, to decide lawsuits.
- The Eighth Amendment: Bail, Fines and PunishmentLimits the government's power to jail before trial, impoverish, or punish cruelly.
- The Ninth Amendment: Rights Retained by the PeopleWhy listing some rights does not mean surrendering the rest.
- The Tenth Amendment: Powers Reserved to the States and the PeopleThe federal government has only the powers the Constitution gives it.