Colegio San Jose de Alaminos

College of Arts and Sciences

Alaminos City, Pangasinan
College Department

Name: Richelle Ann Salinas BSED III

Subject: Law Related Studies
Instructor: Ms. Daisy Gadioma

Assessment

1. How do you explain the Bill of Rights?

The Bill of Rights is the first 10 amendments to the United States

Constitution. These amendments guarantee essential rights and civil
liberties, such as the right to free speech and the right to bear arms, as
well as reserving rights to the people and the states. The Bill of Rights has
its own fascinating story as a distinct historical document, drafted
separately from the seven articles that form the body of the Constitution.
But ever since the first 10 amendments were ratified in 1791, the Bill of
Rights has also been an integral part of the Constitution.
Congress commissioned 14 official copies of the Bill of Rights—one for
the federal government and one for each of the original 13 states, which
President George Washington dispatched to the states to consider for
ratification. Today, most of these original copies reside at the archives of
their respective states. The federal government’s copy is on display at the
National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.—
alongside the original, handwritten copies of the U.S. Constitution and the
Declaration of Independence. Four states are missing their copies:
Georgia, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. Two unidentified copies
are known to have survived; one is in the Library of Congress, and the
other is in the collection of The New York Public Library. North Carolina’s
copy of the Bill of Rights was missing for nearly 140 years after being
stolen by a Union soldier during the Civil War. The National Constitution
Center played a key role in the recovery of the document in 2003,
including assisting in an FBI sting operation.
Toward the end of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, George
Mason, a delegate from Virginia, proposed adding a bill of rights, which
would, he argued, give great quiet to the people” and “might be prepared
in a few hours.” The state delegations unanimously rejected Mason’s
proposal. Some delegates reasoned that a federal bill of rights was
unnecessary because most state constitutions already included some form
of guaranteed rights; others said that outlining certain rights would imply
that those were the only rights reserved to the people. However, historian
 Richard Beeman, a former Trustee of the National Constitution Center,
has pointed out a much more prosaic reason the delegates were so
skeptical: They had spent four arduous months of contentious debate in a
hot, stuffy room, and were anxious to avoid anything that would prolong
the convention. They wanted to go home, so they took a pass. A bill of
rights was overruled.
The Constitution was signed by 39 delegates on September 17, 1787,
at the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall, in
Philadelphia. Three delegates were present but refused to sign, in part
because of the absence of a bill of rights: George Mason, Edmund
Randolph, and Elbridge Gerry.
After the Convention, the absence of a bill of rights emerged as a
central part of the ratification debates. Anti-Federalists, who opposed
ratification, viewed its absence as a fatal flaw. Several states ratified the
Constitution on the condition that a bill of rights would be promptly
added, and many even offered suggestions for what to include.
Pauline Maier, author of Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787–1788,
noted of these proponents of a bill of rights:
“Without their determined opposition, the first ten amendments would not have become
a part of the Constitution for later generations to transform into a powerful instrument
for the defense of American freedom. … Their example might well be their greatest gift
to posterity.”
After the Constitution was ratified in 1788, James Madison, who
had already helped draft much of the original Constitution, took up the
task of drafting a bill of rights. Madison largely drew from the Virginia
Declaration of Rights, which was primarily written by George Mason in
1776 (two months before the Declaration of Independence); he also drew
from amendments suggested by the states’ ratifying conventions.
Madison drafted 19 amendments, which he proposed to Congress
on June 8, 1789. The House of Representatives narrowed those down to
17; then the Senate, with the approval of the House, narrowed them
down to 12. These 12 were approved on September 25, 1789, and sent to
the states for ratification.
The 10 amendments that are now known as the Bill of Rights were
ratified on December 15, 1791, and thus became part of the Constitution.
The first two amendments in the 12 that Congress proposed to the states
were rejected: The first dealt with apportioning representation in the
House of Representatives; the second prevented members of Congress
from voting to change their pay until the next session of Congress. This
original “Second Amendment” was finally added to the Constitution as the
27th Amendment, more than 200 years later.
Bill of Rights Day is observed on December 15 each year, as called for by a joint
resolution of Congress that was approved by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941.
 The Bill of Rights was drafted in New York City, where the federal
government was operating out of Federal Hall in 1789. (The Declaration of
Independence and the original, unamended Constitution were written and
signed in Philadelphia.)

2. What is the importance of the Bill of Rights?

The Bill of Rights represents the first step that “We the People” took in
amending the Constitution “in Order to form a more perfect Union.” The
original, unamended Constitution was a remarkable achievement,
establishing a revolutionary structure of government that put power in the
hands of the people. The Bill of Rights built on that foundation, protecting
our most cherished American freedoms, including freedom of speech,
religion, assembly, and due process of law. For more than two centuries—
as we have exercised, restricted, expanded, tested, and debated those
freedoms—the Bill of Rights has shaped and been shaped by what it
means to be American.

3. Which Bill of Rights is most important and why?

Arguably, the First Amendment is also the most important to the

maintenance of a democratic government. It states that “Congress shall
make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;
or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
Government for a redress of grievances.”
The first part of that statement reflects the framers’ experience
with the long history of religious strife in Europe. They realized that
religious discord can be explosive and cause tremendous disruption in
politics. It would be doubly so if one religious sect were favored over all
others. So, they ensured that federal government cannot interfere in the
citizens’ practice of their religion.
The freedoms of speech, press, assembly and the right to petition
the government and seek redress of grievances proclaim that citizens
have the right to call the government to account. Freedom of speech and
press allows citizens to communicate their ideas verbally and in writing,
while freedom of assembly lets them publicly express a common interest.
The right to petition allows citizens to point out to the government where
it did not follow the law, to seek changes, as well as damages for such
missteps.
Of course, there are limits to these freedoms. One may not force
the tenets of his or her religion on those who do not observe those
beliefs. Harmful speech, such as yelling “fire” in a crowded room, is not
protected, nor is a written lie that causes harm. As well, gatherings must
 be peaceful. Destruction of the property of others is not protected by the
First Amendment.
“Liberty is to faction –[political parties or movements] what air is to
fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires,” said James Madison,
the principal framer of the Constitution. “But it could not be less folly to
abolish liberty, which is essential to political life, because it nourishes
faction, than it would be to wish the annihilation of air, which is essential
to animal life, because it imparts to fire its destructive agency.”

4. How can the Bill of Rights protect us?

It is this primary amendment that gives America its aura of freedom,

because if expression was repressed, oppression of the people would soon
follow.
It is when the people can’t voice their views that tyranny begins. The
government has no control over people’s opinions and thoughts, so
logically there is no reason that they should be able to stop us from
sharing these views that we hold. One of Filipino’s greatest attributes is
the diversity — of religions, of political ideologies, of beliefs — found
within our democracy, and it is the First Amendment that protects our
ability to maintain this diversity. Thanks to the Bill of Rights, we can help
to build upon the diversity by openly sharing our thoughts with others,
with no interference on the part of the government.
The Bill of Rights gives us the freedom to be ourselves, without worrying about
what the government thinks about it. The first ten amendments were specifically
designed by the founders of this country to protect the personal privacy of all
Americans, a feat which they had great success in. Thanks to the Bill of Rights, our
daily life remains unobstructed by the government.

5. What is the main reason the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution?

To protect individual rights, the framers of the United States

Constitution added ten amendments to the document, which came into
force in 1792, three years after the Constitution itself did. These
amendments are collectively named the Bill of Rights.

Enrichment Activity:
Essay: Write an essay consisting of 300-500 words about the issue on human rights
abuse in the country.

There is now near-universal consensus that all individuals are

entitled to certain basic rights under any circumstances. These include
certain civil liberties and political rights, the most fundamental of which is
the right to life and physical safety. Human rights are the articulation of
the need for justice, tolerance, mutual respect, and human dignity in all of
our activity. Speaking of rights allows us to express the idea that all
individuals are part of the scope of morality and justice.
To protect human rights is to ensure that people receive some
degree of decent, humane treatment. To violate the most basic human
rights, on the other hand, is to deny individuals their fundamental moral
entitlements. It is, in a sense, to treat them as if they are less than human
and undeserving of respect and dignity. Examples are acts typically
deemed "crimes against humanity," including genocide, torture, slavery,
rape, enforced sterilization or medical experimentation, and deliberate
starvation. Because these policies are sometimes implemented by
governments, limiting the unrestrained power of the state is an important
part of international law. Underlying laws that prohibit the various "crimes
against humanity" is the principle of nondiscrimination and the notion that
certain basic rights apply universally
The number of deaths related to combat and the collateral damage
caused by warfare are only a small part of the tremendous amount
of suffering and devastation caused by conflicts. Over the course of
protracted conflict, assaults on political rights and the fundamental right
to life are typically widespread. Some of the gravest violations of the right
to life are massacres, the starvation of entire populations, and genocide.
Genocide is commonly understood as the intentional extermination of a
single ethnic, racial, or religious group. Killing group members, causing
them serious bodily or mental harm, imposing measures to prevent birth,
or forcibly transferring children are all ways to bring about the destruction
of a group. Genocide is often regarded as the most offensive crime
against humanity. The term "war crime" refers to a violation of the rules
of jus in bello (justice in war) by any individual, whether military or
civilian. The laws of armed conflict prohibit attacks on civilians and the use
of weapons that cause unnecessary suffering or long-term environmental
damage. Other war crimes include taking hostages, firing on localities that
are undefended and without military significance, such as hospitals or
schools, inhuman treatment of prisoners, including biological experiments,
and the pillage or purposeless destruction of property. Although clearly
outlawed by international law, such war crimes are common. For a long
time, the international community has failed to address the problem of
sexual violence during armed conflict. However, sexual assaults, which
often involve sexual mutilation, sexual humiliation, and forced pregnancy,
are quite common. Such crimes are motivated in part by the long-held
view that women are the "spoils" of war to which soldiers are entitled.
Trafficking in women is a form of sexual slavery in which women are
transported across national borders and marketed for prostitution. These
so-called "comfort women" are another example of institutionalized sexual
 violence against women during wartime. Sexual violence is sometimes
viewed as a way to destroy male and community pride or humiliate men
who cannot "protect" their women. It is also used to silence women who
are politically active, or simply inflict terror upon the population at large.
Mass rapes may also form part of a genocidal strategy, designed to
impose conditions that lead to the destruction of an entire group of
people.
Rather than simply killing off whole populations, government forces may carry out
programs of torture. Torture can be either physical or psychological, and aims at the
"humiliation or annihilation of the dignity of the person." Physical torture might include
mutilation, beatings, and electric shocks to lips, gums, and genitals. In psychological
torture, detainees are sometimes deprived of food and water for long periods, kept
standing upright for hours, deprived of sleep, or tormented by high-level noise.
Torture is used in some cases as a way to carry out interrogations and extract
confessions or information. Today, it is increasingly used as a means of suppressing
political and ideological dissent, or for punishing political opponents who do not share
the ideology of the ruling group. In addition to torture, tens of thousands of people
detained in connection with conflicts "disappear" each year, and are usually killed and
buried in secret. Government forces "take people into custody, hold them in secret, and
then refuse to acknowledge responsibility for their whereabouts or fate." This abduction
of persons is typically intended to secure information and spread terror. In most cases,
interrogations involve threats and torture, and those who are arrested are subsequently
killed. Corpses are buried in unmarked graves or left at dumpsites in an attempt to
conceal acts of torture and summary execution of those in custody. Because people
disappear without any trace, families do not know whether their loved ones are alive or
dead.
Various lesser forms of political oppression are often enacted as
well. Individuals who pose a threat to those in power or do not share their
political views may be arbitrarily imprisoned, and either never brought to
trial or subject to grossly unfair trial procedures. Mass groups of people
may be denied the right to vote or excluded from all forms of political
participation. Or, measures restricting people's freedom of movement may
be enforced. These include forcible relocations, mass expulsions, and
denials of the right to seek asylum or return to one's home. Political
oppression may also take the form of discrimination. When this occurs,
basic rights may be denied on the basis of religion, ethnicity, race, or
gender. Apartheid, which denies political rights on the basis of race, is
perhaps one of the most severe forms of discrimination. The system of
apartheid in South Africa institutionalized extreme racial segregation that
involved laws against interracial marriage or sexual relations and
requirements for the races to live in different territorial areas. Certain
individuals were held to be inferior by definition, and not regarded as full
human beings under the law. The laws established under this system
 aimed at social control, and brought about a society divided along racial
lines and characterized by a systematic disregard for human rights.
In addition, women are uniquely vulnerable to certain types of
human rights abuses -- in addition to the sexual abuse mentioned above,
entrenched discrimination against women is prevalent in many parts of
the world and leads to various forms of political and social oppression.
This includes strict dress codes and harsh punishments for sexual
"transgressions," which impose severe limitations on women's basic
liberties. In addition, women in some regions suffer greater poverty than
men and are denied political influence, education, and job training.
In response, public authorities must regain control of organized violence. This
means a re-establishment of the rule of law and a rebuilding of trust in public
authorities. In addition, more inclusive, democratic values are needed to defuse
exclusivist ideals.[28] In the face of such violations, leaders must champion
international legal norms and human rights. These human rights norms are central to
the maintenance of civil society, and necessary for grounding attitudes of tolerance and
mutual respect within communities. Serious difficulties arise, however, when those in
power are responsible for human rights violations. In this case, outside intervention is
necessary to stop the abuse.