How did English documents such as the English Bill of Rights influence American settlers?

Description

The rights provided in the Bill of Rights were based on several documents and precedents from England and the early American colonies. Documents such as the Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights, the Massachusetts Body of Liberties and the Virginia Declaration of Rights all inspired early Americans to include specific rights in the first ten amendments to the Constitution. This lesson provides an overview of these early documents and has students compare them to the Bill of Rights in the United States.

Procedures

• WARM-UP:

  Have the students answer the following questions before beginning the lesson. Discuss the answers with the students after they have time to respond.

  • What rights to you have in the United States? Where do these rights come from?

• EXPLORATION:

  Have the students view each of the videos clips below and answer the questions on the handout.

  After students complete these videos and questions, review the students answers and clarify any misconceptions.

  HANDOUT: Predecessors to the Bill of Rights (Google Doc)

• Video Clip: Magna Carta and Individual Rights (3:13)

  • Describe the events surrounding the creation of the Magna Carta.

  • Why did the barons feel that the Magna Carta was necessary?

  • Explain the rights that were included in the Magna Carta.

• Video Clip: Individual Rights and the Early American Colonies (3:24)

  • Explain how the royal colonial charters allowed for colonists to set up their own political structures. What were limitations to these charters?

  • What does Mr. Witte mean when he describes the colonies as a "laboratory" to try out ideas?

  • Describe the religious freedoms that were established in Rhode Island, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

  • How did these early experiments in individual rights influence the ideas during the founding of the United States?

• Video Clip: Virginia Declaration of Rights (4:38)

  • Explain some of the ideas that were included in the Virginia Declaration of Rights.

  • Explain James Madison's position on religion which he insisted be included in the Virginia Declaration of Rights.

• Video Clip: The Creation of the Bill of Rights (3:34)

  • What was the main concern of the delegates to the Constitution Convention? What rights were originally included in the Constitution?

  • Describe the consideration given to including a Bill of Rights during the Constitutional Convention.

  • Explain the debate over the Bill of Rights between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists. Describe the views of each group.

  • Explain the Federalists' response to the concerns from states over the lack of Bill of Rights. What was the end result?

• APPLICATION:

  After having the students view the videos, the students will use the chart on the handout to create a list of specific rights that were included in the documents that influenced the Bill of Rights.

  They should indicate which documents included these rights and identify where in the Bill of Rights each right is located.

• CONCLUSION:

  As a culminating activity, the students will provide a written response to the following prompt:

  • How did prior documents and history of the colonies influence the rights established in the Bill of Rights? Provide examples to support your response.

• EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

  Student Bill of Rights- Using the ideas from the documents that influenced the Bill of Rights, create a bill of rights for students. What rights should you have in school?

  Amendments to the Amendments- Review the list of rights that are specifically mentioned in the Bill of Rights. What other rights do you think should be directly stated in the Bill of Rights?

• EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

  Additional Writing Prompts-

  • How does the creation of the Bill of Rights in the United States compare to the creation of the previous documents?

  • To what extent was the situation in the American colonies uniquely setup for the establishment of a new form of government?

  • Using examples from the video clips, how have documents that have guaranteed rights for citizens also served to limit government?

  • Pick one of the rights established in the documents prior to the Bill of Rights (i.e. petition, jury trial, etc…). How is that right different now than what was when it was initially written?

Additional Resources

• Inspirations for the Bill of Rights - Google Docs
• Bill of Rights - Bill of Rights Institute
• Bell Ringer: Chief Justice Roberts on Magna Carta

  Chief Justice Roberts discussed the creation of Magna Carta in 1215 in England. He explained the significance and impact on democracy and liberty today.

• Bell Ringer: The English Roots of Democratic Principles

  President Barack Obama speaks to the British Parliament, on May 25, 2011, about the English roots of our democratic principles.

• Lesson Plan: The Constitutional Convention

  In this lesson, students will examine some of the founding principles that emerged from this meeting as well as hear about some of the people who participated. Procedures