Category: Camp (Page 2 of 2)

Articles of Confederation

The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, on November 15, 1777. However, ratification of the Articles of Confederation by all thirteen states did not occur until March 1, 1781. The Articles created a loose confederation of sovereign states and a weak central government, leaving most of the power with the state governments. The Articles of Confederation gave Congress the power to govern foreign affairs, conduct war and regulate currency; however, these powers were sharply limited because Congress had no authority to enforce its requests to the states for money or troops.

This is an important concept to establish for students since State Rights are an important difference between our government and others around the world. This document shows that State Rights were always important. The various colonies each held modestly differing beliefs and wanted to be assured of certain levels of autonomy. The purpose of introducing this is only to set up the important difference between a Constitutional Republic and a Democracy. The need for a stronger Federal government would soon become apparent and eventually lead to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. The present United States Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation on March 4, 1789.

Hands-On Opportunity

Copies of the Articles are readily available in parchment paper.

Learning Opportunity

Conduct a discussion on what kinds of differences might the colonies want to retain for themselves. Consider all thirteen.

The Structure of the American Government

The government of the United States is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U.S. Constitution in the Congress, the president, and the federal courts, respectively.

The Legislative Branch

The legislative branch drafts proposed laws, confirms or rejects Presidential nominations for heads of federal agencies, federal judges, and the Supreme Court, and has the authority to declare war. This branch includes Congress (the Senate and House of Representatives) and special agencies and offices that provide support services to Congress. American citizens have the right to vote for Senators and Representatives through free, confidential ballots.

Senate—There are two elected Senators per state, totaling 100 Senators. A Senate term is six years and there is no limit to the number of terms an individual can serve.

House of Representatives—There are 435 elected Representatives, which are divided among the 50 states in proportion to their total population. There are additional non-voting delegates who represent the District of Columbia and the territories. A Representative serves a two-year term, and there is no limit to the number of terms an individual can serve.

The Executive Branch

The executive branch carries out and enforces laws. It includes the President, Vice President, the Cabinet, executive departments, independent agencies, and other boards, commissions, and committees. American citizens have the right to vote for the President and Vice President through free, confidential ballots. Key roles of the executive branch include:

President—The President leads the country. He or she is the head of state, leader of the federal government, and Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces. The President serves a four-year term and can be elected no more than two times.

Vice President—The Vice President supports the President. If the President is unable to serve, the Vice President becomes President. The Vice President can be elected and serve an unlimited number of four-year terms as Vice President, even under a different President.

The Cabinet—Cabinet members serve as advisors to the President. They include the Vice President, heads of executive departments, and other high-ranking government officials. Cabinet members are nominated by the President and must be approved by a simple majority of the Senate–51 votes if all 100 Senators vote.

Judicial Branch

The judicial branch interprets the meaning of laws, applies laws to individual cases, and decides if laws violate the Constitution. It’s comprised of the Supreme Court and other federal courts.

Supreme Court—The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States. The Justices of the Supreme Court are nominated by the President and must be approved by the Senate.

Nine members make up the Supreme Court— a Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices. There must be a minimum or quorum of six Justices to decide a case.
If there is an even number of Justices and a case results in a tie, the lower court’s decision stands. There is no fixed term for Justices. They serve until their death, retirement, or removal in exceptional circumstances.

Benefits of our Type of Government

1. The power of the executive is greatly restricted compared to other nations, preventing hostile takeovers/unconstitutional actions.
2. The power of the legislative branch is greatly restricted, as many of its potential powers are reserved for the President.
3. Citizens can elect their President directly, instead of indirectly through a parliament.
4. By necessity, congress is often forced to compromise on various bills, leading to relatively centrist legislation.

Hands-On Opportunity

Here is an opportunity to combine both an activity and learning experience. To fully understand how a fledgling group of colonies could defeat, Britain, the most powerful nation on earth, we need only to go back to our first document’s title: “The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America.” It was unity and the values and principles cooperation that created our great country. We must always remember that the enemies of freedom attack unity first. It is the uncivil discourse and divisiveness created by the “isms” (liberalism, socialism and communism) that all citizens must fear. Use this time to discuss how people with differing opinions can discuss, draft and adopt principles that benefit everyone.

Next Section: US Constitution

Before any discussion on the validity of governmental powers and taxation, discussion time must be given to the “official’ role of our Federal Government. There is a difference between Federal limits of power and State limits. These notes¹http://www.conservatives4palin.com/2011/05/the-constitutional-role-of-the-federal-government.html are intended to help discuss Federal powers. When we omit the constitutionality question, we allow groups to establish the terms of the debate to the “isms,” liberalism, socialism, communism, totalitarianism, etc. Just because a majority of people want something (or even a vocal minority of people, it does not make it constitutional. Our Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land. When we define and reduce Government in line with the limits imposed by the Constitution, the government will be small, and our federal budget would be balanced.

The Constitution’s Preamble says the federal government was established (and the Constitution was adopted) to “form a more perfect union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” The Constitution’s articles, and the subsequent Amendments, specify the powers of our government. They are listed in Article I, Sec. 8; Articles II-V; Amendments XIII-XVI, XIX-XX, XXIII-XXVI. These powers derived from one of the following categories:

1. Defense, war prosecution, peace, foreign relations, foreign commerce, and interstate commerce;
2. The protection of citizens’ constitutional rights (e.g. the right to vote) and ensuring that slavery remains illegal;
3. Establishing federal courts inferior to the Supreme Court of the United States;
4. Copyright protection;
5. Coining (and printing) money;
6. Establishing post offices and post roads, a road designated for the transportation of postal mail;
7. Establishing a national set of universal weights and measures;
8. Taxation needed to raise revenue to perform these essential functions.

The list above are the only prerogatives of the Federal Government. The Tenth Amendment states that all prerogatives not explicitly given to the Federal Government, or explicitly prohibited by the states are reserved to the states or to the people (citizens). Our Federal Government has been prohibited, via our Constitution from handling any issues not explicitly listed in the Constitution; their prerogatives are limited to what the Constitution explicitly states.

James Madison²https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Madison, the principal and original author of our Constitution’s original text, who also wrote the first 10 Amendments called the Bill of Rights, also wrote in the Federalist Papers that “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.”– Federalist Paper #45, paragraph #9.

The Constitution clearly limits the Federal Government’s role to providing for the common defense, management of foreign relations, protection of citizens’ constitutional rights, establishment of federal courts; and application and explanation of federal law ( there are a few other minor exceptions). No branch of the Federal Government is authorized to handle any other issue. Therefore, the Federal Government should be strictly limited to these tasks. All other tasks/issues should be reassigned to the states, local governments, and individual Citizens. Congress cannot legally delegate its authority to someone else, as per the nondelegation doctrine³https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nondelegation_doctrine. If and when they do, this becomes an issue of constitutionality. The loss of individual rights and the growing annual budget deficit are a result of our Federal Government dealing with affairs not assigned to it by the Constitution.

---

Find Lostpine’s Comprehensive Resource on the Impact of the Declaration of Independence on our Constitution HERE.

• 1
  http://www.conservatives4palin.com/2011/05/the-constitutional-role-of-the-federal-government.html
• 2
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Madison
• 3
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nondelegation_doctrine

The Constitution of the United States established America’s national government and fundamental laws and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens. It was signed on September 17, 1787, by delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. The delegates created a plan for a stronger federal government with three branches—executive, legislative and judicial—along with a system of checks and balances to ensure no single branch would have too much power. The Bill of Rights would have 10 amendments guaranteeing basic individual protections, such as freedom of speech and religion, that became part of the Constitution in 1791. To date, there are 27 constitutional amendments.

James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, with assistance from John Jay, wrote a series of essays to persuade people to ratify the Constitution. The 85 essays, known collectively as “The Federalist” (or “The Federalist Papers”), detailed how the new government would work, and were published under the pseudonym Publius (Latin for “public”) in newspapers across the states starting in the fall of 1787. (People who supported the Constitution became known as Federalists, while those opposed it because they thought it gave too much power to the national government were called Anti-Federalists.)

What Does our Constitution Really Say? ¹ US Constitution.Net. https://www.usconstitution.net/constquick.html

The Preamble to the Constitution has no force in law. It establishes the “Why” of the Constitution. Why is this document in existence? It reflects the desires of our founding Fathers to improve on the government they currently had (to be “more perfect” than the Articles of Confederation), to ensure that that government would be just, and would protect its citizens from internal strife and from attack from the outside. It would be of benefit to the people, rather than to its detriment. And, perhaps as importantly, it intended to do the same for the future generations of Americans. The full text of the US Constitution can be found here. Before you go further, review The Role of the Federal Government as Defined by the US Constitution.

Article 1, establishes the first branch of government, the Legislative.

Section 1 establishes the name of the Legislature to be The Congress, a two-part body.

Section 2 defines the House of Representatives, known as the lower house of Congress. It establishes a few minimum requirements, like a 25-year-old age limit, and establishes that the people themselves will elect the members for two years each. The members of the House are divided among the states proportionally, or according to size, giving more populous states more representatives in the House. The leader of the House is the Speaker of the House, chosen by the members.

Section 3 defines the upper house of Congress, the Senate. Again, it establishes some minimum requirements, such as a 30-year-old age limit. Senators were originally appointed by the legislatures of the individual states, though this later changed. They serve for six years each. Each state has equal suffrage in the Senate, meaning that each state has the exact same number of Senators, two each, regardless of the population. This Section introduces the Vice-President, who is the leader of the Senate (called the President of the Senate); the Vice-President does not vote unless there is a tie.

Section 4 says that each state may establish its own methods for electing members of the Congress, and mandates, or requires, that Congress must meet at least once per year.

Section 5 says that Congress must have a minimum number of members present to meet, and that it may set fines for members who do not show up. It says that members may be expelled, that each house must keep a journal to record proceedings and votes, and that neither house can adjourn without the permission of the other.

Section 6 establishes that members of Congress will be paid, that they cannot be detained while traveling to and from Congress, that they cannot hold any other office in the government while in the Congress.

Section 7 details how bills become law. First, any bill for raising money (such as by taxes or fees) must start out in the House. All bills must pass both houses of Congress in the exact same form. Bills that pass both houses are sent to the President. He can either sign the bill, in which case it becomes law, or he can veto it. In the case of a veto, the bill is sent back to Congress, and if both houses pass it by a two-thirds majority, the bill becomes law over the President’s veto. This is known as overriding a veto.

There are a couple more options for the President. First, if he neither vetoes a bill nor signs it, it becomes a law without his signature after 10 days. The second option is called a pocket veto. It occurs if Congress sends the bill to the President and they then adjourn. If the President does not sign the bill within 10 days, it does not become law.

Section 8 lists specific powers of Congress, including the power to establish and maintain an army and navy, to establish post offices, to create courts, regulate commerce between the states, to declare war, and to raise money. It also includes a clause known as the Elastic Clause which allows it to pass any law necessary for the carrying out of the previously listed powers.

Section 9 places certain limits on Congress. Certain legal items, such as suspension of habeas corpus, bills of attainder, and ex post facto laws are prohibited. No law can give preference to one state over another; no money can be taken from the treasury except by duly passed law, and no title of nobility, such as Prince or Marquis, will ever be established by the government.

Section 10, finally, prohibits the states from several things. They cannot make their own money, declare war, or do most of the other things prohibited by Congress in Section 9. They cannot tax goods from other states, nor can they have navies.

Article 2 establishes the second of the three branches of government, the Executive.

Section 1 establishes the office of the President and the Vice-President and sets their terms to be four years. Presidents are elected by the Electoral College, whereby each state has one vote for each member of Congress. Originally, the President was the person with the most votes and the Vice-President was the person with the second most, though this was later changed. Certain minimum requirements are established again, such as a 35-year minimum age. Presidents must also be natural-born citizens of the United States. The President is to be paid a salary, which cannot change, up or down, if he is in his office.

Section 2 gives the President some important powers. He is commander-in-chief of the armed forces and of the militia (National Guard) of all the states; he has a Cabinet to aid him and can pardon criminals. He makes treaties with other nations and picks many of the judges and other members of the government (all with the approval of the Senate).

Section 3 establishes the duties of the President: to give a State of the Union address, to make suggestions to Congress, to act as head of state by receiving ambassadors and other heads of state, and to be sure the laws of the United States are carried out.

Section 4 briefly discusses the removal of the President, called impeachment.

Article 3 establishes the last of the three branches of government, the Judiciary.

Section 1 establishes the Supreme Court, the highest court in the United States. It also sets the terms of judges, of both the Supreme Court and lower courts: that they serve if they are on “good behavior,” which usually means for life (no Justice and only a few judges have ever been impeached). It also requires that judges shall be paid.

Section 2 sets the kinds of cases that may be heard by the federal judiciary, which cases the Supreme Court may hear first (called original jurisdiction), and that all other cases heard by the Supreme Court are by appeal. It also guarantees trial by jury in criminal court.

Section 3 defines, without any question, what the crime of treason is.

Article 4 concerns the states.

Section 1 mandates that all states will honor the laws of all other states; this ensures, for example, that a couple married in Florida is also considered married by Arizona, or that someone convicted of a crime in Virginia is considered guilty by Wyoming.

Section 2 guarantees that citizens of one state be treated equally and fairly like all citizens of another. It also says that if a person accused of a crime in one state flees to another, they will be returned to the state they fled from. This section also has a clause dealing with fugitive slaves that no longer applies.

Section 3 concerns the admittance of new states and the control of federal lands.

Section 4 ensures a republican form of government (which, in this case, is synonymous with “representative democracy,” and both of which are opposed to a monarchical or aristocratic scheme – the state derives its power from the people, not from a king or gentry) and guarantees that the federal government will protect the states against invasion and insurrection.

Article 5 details the method of amending, or changing, the Constitution.

Article 6 concerns the United States itself.

First, it guarantees that the United States under the Constitution would assume all debts and contracts entered into by the United States under the Articles of Confederation. It sets the Constitution and all laws and treaties of the United States to be the supreme law of the country. Finally, it requires all officers of the United States and of the states to swear an oath of allegiance to the United States and the Constitution when taking office.

Article 7 details the method for ratification, or acceptance, of the Constitution: of the original 13 states in the United States, nine had to accept the Constitution before it would officially go into effect.

Ratification

Beginning on December 7, 1787, five states–Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut–ratified the Constitution in quick succession. However, other states, especially Massachusetts, opposed the document, as it failed to reserve undelegated powers to the states and lacked constitutional protection of basic political rights, such as freedom of speech, religion, and the press. In February 1788, a compromise was reached under which Massachusetts and other states would agree to ratify the document with the assurance that amendments would be immediately proposed. The Constitution was thus narrowly ratified in Massachusetts, followed by Maryland and South Carolina. On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the document, and it was subsequently agreed that government under the U.S. Constitution would begin on March 4, 1789. George Washington was inaugurated as America’s first president on April 30, 1789. In June of that same year, Virginia ratified the Constitution, and New York followed in July. On February 2, 1790, the U.S. Supreme Court held its first session, marking the date when the government was fully operative.

Rhode Island, the last holdout of the original 13 states, finally ratified the Constitution on May 29, 1790.

Hands-On Opportunity

Now would be a time to go back to the Magna Carta²https://www.nationalreview.com/2015/06/what-rights-are-due-and-magna-carta-paul-moreno/, the Hiawatha Wampum³https://www.mollylarkin.com/u-s-constitution-great-law-peace/, the Declaration of the Thirteen United States of American⁴http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/politics/difference-between-declaration-of-independence-and-the-constitution/, even the Articles of Confederation⁵https://www.usconstitution.net/constconart.html and show that our Constitution grew out of many great ideas from many people. Look for the similarities. The laws of our land have had the experience of many generations of people who worked, fought, and died to be free. Students should understand that our Constitution was not a quickly generated set of rules but benefited from the input of many.

Next Section: Bill of Rights

• 1
  US Constitution.Net. https://www.usconstitution.net/constquick.html
• 2
  https://www.nationalreview.com/2015/06/what-rights-are-due-and-magna-carta-paul-moreno/
• 3
  https://www.mollylarkin.com/u-s-constitution-great-law-peace/
• 4
  http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/politics/difference-between-declaration-of-independence-and-the-constitution/
• 5
  https://www.usconstitution.net/constconart.html

In 1789, Madison, then a member of the newly established U.S. House of Representatives, introduced 19 amendments to the Constitution. On September 25, 1789, Congress adopted 12 of the amendments and sent them to the states for ratification. Ten of these amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, were ratified and became part of the Constitution on December 10, 1791. The Bill of Rights guarantees individuals certain basic protections as citizens, including freedom of speech, religion and the press; the right to bear and keep arms; the right to peaceably assemble; protection from unreasonable search and seizure; and the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury. For his contributions to the drafting of the Constitution, as well as its ratification, Madison became known as “Father of the Constitution.”

To date, there have been thousands of proposed amendments to the Constitution. However, only 17 amendments have been ratified in addition to the Bill of Rights because the process isn’t easy–after a proposed amendment makes it through Congress, it must be ratified by three-fourths of the states. The most recent amendment to the Constitution, Article XXVII, which deals with congressional pay raises, was proposed in 1789 and ratified in 1992. The full text of the Bill of Rights can be found here.

Defining a Right

Now is the time in your Patriot Camp that the concept of a “Right” becomes important.  Rights are NOT what others require of you.  Rights are very personal.  Originally established from the founding fathers as the “right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” the concept of rights are frequently misapplied by society. A right should not mean that those without get to have what you have earned. People in need will be with us forever. Charity should come from a generous heart, not the mandates of government. We are granted the right to life from our creator, further granted the right to be free and to have free will to control our own destiny.  Hard work is a component of the process by which happiness is obtained. As the discussion of what is a right continues, consider these points:

• Fundamental human rights come from God, not the government;
• Our God expects you to work;
• The sharing of your talents and wealth is not part of the rights of others – only your own heart can create generosity; and
• A government should not be in the business of defining rights, only protecting those already granted by part of creation itself.

The Original Ten

Amendment I

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.

Amendment II

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Amendment VII

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, then according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

Hands-On Opportunity

A full-size parchment copy of the Bill of Rights is readily available from retailers. By now, your students would have seen three or four documents that literally created our country. A good point to make here is that it does not take thousands of pages to create something that is good and that lasts a long time. It just takes good ideas.

They will notice that the original Bill of Rights had 12 Amendments. The Senate consolidated and trimmed these down to 12, which were approved by Congress and sent out to the states by President Washington in October 1789. The states ratified the last 10 of the 12 amendments. They became the first 10 amendments to the Constitution and are now referred to as the Bill of Rights.

Learning Opportunity

By now, you should have used your “reward” candy coins to talk about rights and what makes our “republic” unique in the world. A good discussion would be to talk about each one of the first ten rights afforded to us and look back at the historical events that would have biased our forefathers to include them.

How to Teach the Bill of Rights

Next Section: Citizenship

The Bill of Rights was strongly influenced by the Virginia Declaration of Rights, written by George Mason. Other precursors include English documents such as the Magna Carta, the Petition of Rights, the English Bill of Rights, and the Massachusetts Body of Liberties. When teaching, it is important to look at the events of history that would have biased the population and early leaders to add these rights to our fundamental US Constitution.

You can find additional resources for understanding the 27 grievances in the Declaration HERE. The resources compare each grievance to the historical events that triggered its inclusion, and the U.S. Constitution articles and amendments that made sure these things would not impact a free nation again.

.

Amendment 1

Arguably, the First Amendment is also the most important to the maintenance of a constitutional republic-style government. The first part of Amendment 1 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 the federal government could not 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.

Amendment 2

Basically, this: The very first battle of the Revolutionary War was over the colonist’s desire to stockpile arms and defend their homeland. April 19, 1775, the British Troops were marching on Lexington and Concord to confiscate the store of weapons. Had the British been successful, there would not have been any revolution. The weapons were needed to form an army, to train troops to go “toe to toe” with British Regulars, and were commonly called the “Brown Bess.” For all purposes, this was the assault weapon of the 18th century.  Patriot militias were made up of farmers, shopkeepers, and tradesmen, all required to own arms for use in defending their colonies.¹https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Bess

The intent of the 2nd, from the perspective of the states, was to keep the federal government out of business in the states, entirely. At the time, the notion of a powerful federal army was very unpopular, and the vision was that state militias would be used for this instead. The idea was that the state use of force would be retained by the people, as an effective military apparatus. And that as such it would be very difficult to be abused by a future overbearing federal government. Also, the term “militia” refers to the citizens of a colony. All owned and maintained firearms for the purpose of self-protection and preservation of life and liberty, and “unalienable rights” as viewed by God Himself.

The final version of the Declaration of Independence declares: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Amendment 3

The Third Amendment to the United States Constitution was added to the Bill of Rights by the Founding Fathers to protect American citizens from being forced to house and feed federal troops against their will. The responsible action for this amendment is often seen as The Quartering Act of 1765. This law was extremely important to our Founding Fathers, but it is not so well known to modern Americans. America’s Founders had just experienced the quartering of troops on their private property by the British government during the Revolutionary War and even before.

The Third Amendment says that troops cannot be quartered on private property at all during peacetime, and only as prescribed by law during wartime. Americans’ experience with the quartering of troops in their homes began shortly after the French and Indian War ended in 1763. The British Parliament decided it was necessary to keep a permanent supply of troops in the colonies to protect them from further uprisings of the French and Indians.

English law forbade the presence of a standing army without the consent of the people, in preference to a citizen army. Standing armies were viewed as threats to freedom because they could quickly and easily overpower the common person. So, the colonists rightly viewed the presence of a standing army in their midst without their consent as a threat to their freedom. Both rights, freedom from taxation without consent and freedom from standing armies without consent, were guaranteed to English citizens in English law since the English Bill of Rights of 1689.

Amendment 4

You need to go back to the confiscation of the ship Liberty. In their attempts to fight smuggling the British issued general warrants that allowed them to search anywhere, anyone, at any time. Since proceeds from capturing smugglers were split between the governor, the informer, and the crown there was a massive incentive for abuse. Imagine how bad civil asset forfeiture would be if the police chief or mayor got to personally keep 1/3 of the haul and could search any building anytime and could even keep the building.

If you’ve ever wondered why John Hancock signed his name to the Declaration so big the ship Liberty was his. The Liberty came into port with a 1/4 load of Madeira wine. The British didn’t believe it was true and accused him of offloading the other 3/4 in the night before the customs officials checked the ship. The two men on board initially attested that nothing had been offloaded.

A month later one man changed his story, the ship was confiscated, and Hancock was arrested and charged. John Adams defended Hancock in Admiralty court where charges were dropped after a five-month trial under unknown circumstances. The ship was used by the British for anti-smuggling duty until it was burned by angry colonists in Rhode Island.

Hancock never shook the claim he was a smuggler but abuses like the one he suffered led directly to the Fourth Amendment. Like the other amendments, it was based on English court findings that weren’t always enforced due to the murkiness of the preeminence of the law or monarch in Britain.

Amendment 5

The 5th Amendment is better known to most Americans than the other amendments in the Bill of Rights because of the familiar phrase “I plead the fifth,” often used as a defense in criminal trials. The 5th Amendment also guarantees Americans several other basic rights, including the right to trial by Grand Jury for certain crimes, the right not to be tried or punished more than once for the same crime, the right to be tried only with due process of law and the right to be paid fair compensation for any property taken by the government. 

The Grand Jury Clause guarantees that Americans cannot be charged with serious federal crimes except with an indictment by a grand jury. This is generally considered to be a protection from corrupt government officials who might try to prosecute people unfairly because a group of fellow citizens is required to look over the evidence first.

5th Amendment – The 5th Amendment Double Jeopardy Clause guarantees that Americans cannot be tried twice or punished twice for the same crime.

5th Amendment – Self-Incrimination Clause – Have you ever heard the phrase, “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law?” This is the opening statement of the “Miranda warning” that is read to people when they are being arrested. This clause guarantees that you do not have to testify against yourself in criminal proceedings.

At one time in English history, people could be tortured for not confessing to crimes they were accused of. English citizens eventually stood up against this injustice and claimed that they had a God-given right not to testify under such circumstances. This became the basis for what we know as the right to refrain from testifying against oneself, which was formalized by America’s Founding Fathers as the 5th Amendment Self-Incrimination Clause.

5th Amendment – The 5th Amendment Due Process Clause guarantees that the government cannot take your “life, liberty, or property” without following a “due” process. The Due Process Clause guarantees that you must be treated fairly and be informed of the issues at stake any time the government deals with you in a criminal or administrative matter.

5th Amendment – The Eminent Domain Clause, also known as the “Takings Clause,” promises that if the government ever needs to “take” your property for public use, such as building a highway, it must pay you a reasonable amount for the property. In modern times, the Supreme Court has even extended this right to compensation if a government activity has somehow damaged your property or lowered its property value.

Amendment 6

The 6th Amendment contains 7 specific protections for people accused of crimes. The seven rights listed in the 6th Amendment include:

1. The right to a speedy trial
2. The right to a public trial
3. The right to be judged by an impartial jury
4. The right to be notified of the nature and circumstances of the alleged crime
5. The right to confront witnesses who will testify against the accused
6. The right to find witnesses who will speak in favor of the accused
7. The right to have a lawyer

Amendment 7

The 7th Amendment was a response to the former government’s (England) practice of creating proprietary courts – those where decisions of the judge were controlled by the sovereign (king) – and which denied the individual a right to trial by their peers. The concept was not new when written in the 18th century as part of the first eight amendments, which concentrate on individual freedoms and government restrictions. The American system has its roots in a 12th-century practice found In English jurisprudence.

The primary purpose is to guarantee a person the right to a jury trial, and the 7th is actually one of the most cited but often misidentified. An interesting item is that the 7th has never been, nor was it intended to, applied to the state courts. The states were already practicing the jury system, and there has never been a need to use the 7th in the state courts.

Amendment 8

This amendment prohibits the federal government from imposing unduly harsh penalties on criminal defendants, either as the price for obtaining pretrial release or as punishment for crime after conviction. The Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause is the most important and controversial part of the Eighth Amendment. In some ways, the Clause is shrouded in mystery. What does it mean for a punishment to be “cruel and unusual”? How do we measure a punishment’s cruelty? And if a punishment is cruel, why should we care whether it is “unusual”?

We do know some things about the history of the phrase “cruel and unusual punishments.” In 1689 – a full century before the ratification of the United States Constitution – England adopted a Bill of Rights that prohibited “cruel and unusual punishments.” In 1776, George Mason included a prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments in the Declaration of Rights he drafted for the Commonwealth of Virginia. In 1791, this same prohibition became the central component of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The proposed Constitution made the federal government much more powerful than it had been under the Articles of Confederation. One of the most significant of these new powers was the power to create federal crimes and punish those who committed them. Opponents of the Constitution feared that this new power would allow Congress to use cruel punishments as a tool for oppressing the people.

If one looks back at the 11,000 prisoners that perished in the British prison ships off our Eastern Shore during the American Revolution, one can understand why this amendment was so important.

Amendment 9

The 9th Amendment to the US Constitution is one of the least referred to amendments in decisions of the Supreme Court. It is also one of the most confusing, controversial, and misunderstood amendments to the Constitution. This amendment reserves all rights not listed in the Constitution to the people.

The 9th Amendment’s purpose is clear. The Bill of Rights mentions certain rights that are to be protected from government interference, these rights include freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and the right to keep and bear arms, among others.

Just because a right is not mentioned in the Bill of Rights, though, does not mean that the government automatically has the right to interfere with it. Instead, the 9th Amendment says that any right not enumerated, or listed, in the Constitution is still retained by the people. So, in plain language, it means that there are other rights that people have that are not listed in the Constitution.

The Founding Fathers realized that they could not possibly list every natural right of human beings that needed protection. Instead, they delegated certain powers to the government that were specifically spelled out in the Constitution and said everything else was left up to individuals and to their state governments.

Amendment 10

The 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution is a guarantee of States’ rights. The Constitution designed the federal government to be a government of limited and enumerated, or listed, powers. This means that the federal government only has powers over the things that are specifically given to it in the Constitution. All other powers are reserved to the States. Just remember, we are a Constitutional Republic allowing for the individual rights of people who have aligned by Statehood. The explanation is that our forefathers did not want the central government to become too powerful. They didn’t want a government that was located far away from their homes dictating how they lived their daily lives. They wanted as much power as possible to be retained in their local state legislatures.

Back to the Bill of Rights

• 1
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Bess

To end a Patriot Camp, there is no better way than to have a conversation about what students can do to make our society and country a better place to live. By now, they have walked with our ancestors to see the mistakes they have made, the sacrifices necessary to be a free people. Most importantly, each student should understand that while they have been guaranteed certain rights, those same rights belong to every citizen. There is also a responsibility each person must carry to honor the rights of others. In other words, we need to respect each other.

To have a fun last activity, the following list of “Declarations” were developed for your use. While just discussing them is a worthwhile activity, consider converting them to a parchment like piece of paper and use a “Declaration style” font. Have the students sign them with a quill and ink. If you have a nice wax seal, this adds to the document. These become something to take home and discuss with their parents.

The Twelve Promises of Good Citizenship

Declare to do all the following:

1. To your fellow campers, teachers and parents, be honest
2. Be respectful of people, property and your country
3. Always remain hopeful and optimistic
4. Be thrifty and not wasteful
5. Do all things with humility
6. Be generous and charitable
7. Be sincere
8. Moderation should affect how you choose to live
9. Others should depend on you to work hard
10.  Have courage and be brave, trusting in God’s plan for you
11.  Do not blame others for things that you can change yourself
12.  Be thankful for your friends, family, country and your God.

A tip here is that with the advent of ball-point pens, no one has the “soft touch” to use a quill or even a pen and nib anymore. Have plenty of spares. This is also a good project to discuss how careful the original authors of our key historical documents had to be when creating them. No erasers or spell checking, just perfect penmanship. Quills are not too hard to make. Purchasing large feathers at the craft store, a sharp razor blade, and some creative cutting will trim the feather tips, so they can be dipped in ink and written. Get ready for a mess. Use washable ink, and have lots of paper towels handy.  Here is a YouTube video on how to make a quill pen. Need a printable copy? Use parchment paper: My Declaration at Patriot Camp

Conclusion

The purpose of holding a Patriot Camp is to immerse students in history. Dates and events often blur together in school. By telling a story through hands-on experiences, students will have fun and may develop lifelong interests in camping, crafting, reading, writing, and storytelling. The best way to get started is to visit your local historical societies and events that celebrate your area’s heritage. There, you will meet people who know the stories and have accumulated many of the items needed to hold a camp. Partner with them and above all, enjoy. Feel free to explore our Photo Gallery for a look at past camps and events we have participated in.

Photos of a Typical Patriot Camp

America is named after Amerigo Vespucci¹https://www.loc.gov/wiseguide/aug03/america.html, the Italian explorer who set forth the then revolutionary concept that the lands that Christopher Columbus sailed to in 1492 were part of a separate continent. Vespucci (March 9, 1454 – February 22, 1512) was an Italian explorer, financier, navigator and cartographer. He was born in the Republic of Florence and became a naturalized citizen of the Crown of Castile in 1505. Like Columbus, Vespucci traveled to the New World (first in 1499 and again in 1502). Unlike Columbus, Vespucci wrote about it. Vespucci’s accounts of his travels were published in 1502 and 1504 and were widely read in Europe. Columbus was also hindered because he thought he had discovered another route to Asia, not realizing America was a whole new continent. Vespucci, however, realized that America was not contiguous with Asia. He was also the first to call it the New World, or Novus Mundus in Latin, in his books It would become “the Americas”, a name derived from Americus, the Latin version of Vespucci’s first name.

A map created in 1507 by Martin Waldseemüller was the first to depict this new continent with the name “America,” a Latinized version of “Amerigo.” With the discovery of this “New World,” maps were being redrawn all the time. No one really knew what land was where or how big it was. Because of this confusion, maps from the 1500s are incredibly inaccurate and contradictory. (They also often feature drawings of mythical sea creatures.) In 1507, a German cartographer named Martin Waldseemüller was drawing a map of the world–a very serious map. He called it the Universalis Cosmographia, or Universal Cosmography. Comprised of 12 wooden panels. Each panel was 18 by 24.5 inches in size.² https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldseem%C3%BCller_map Together the panels were eight feet wide and four-and-a-half feet tall. He based his drawings of the New World on Vespucci’s published travelogues. All countries were seen as feminine (like her lady Liberty today), so Waldseemüller used a feminine Latinized of Amerigo to name the new continent “America.” Cartographers tended to copy one another’s choices, so there was no mention of Columbus.

• 1
  https://www.loc.gov/wiseguide/aug03/america.html
• 2
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldseem%C3%BCller_map

Begin each gathering with the Pledge of Allegiance. But on the first day, recite the pledge for the class and give a definition for each word. This was taken from a skit done by Red Skelton. You can search for the “Pledge of Allegiance by Red Skelton” and find several renditions of his presentation or try this link also HERE.

I –– Me; an individual; a committee of one.

Pledge — Dedicate all of my worldly good to give without self-pity.

Allegiance — My love and my devotion.

To the Flag — Our standard. “Old Glory”; a symbol of Freedom. And
wherever she waves, there is respect, because your loyalty has given
her a dignity that shouts “Freedom is everybody’s job.”

of the United — That means we have all come together.

States  of America — Individual communities that have united into 48 great states;
48 individual communities with pride and dignity and purpose; all divided
by imaginary boundaries, yet united to a common cause, and that’s love
of country, of America. (Why we are named America)

And to the Republic — A Republic: a sovereign state in which power
is invested into the representatives chosen by the people to govern; and
the government is the people; and it’s from the people to the leaders,
not from the leaders to the people.

For which it stands

One Nation — Meaning “so blessed by God.”

Indivisible — Incapable of being divided.

With Liberty — Which is freedom; the right of power for one to live
his own life without fears, threats, or any sort of retaliation.

And Justice — The principle and qualities of dealing fairly with
others.

For All — For All. That means, boys and girls, it’s as much your
country as it is mine.

Now let your group recite the Pledge of Allegiance:

I pledge allegiance
to the Flag of the United States of America,
and to the Republic, for which it stands:
one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.