0:00 Well, hey there and welcome back to
0:02 Himler's History and furthermore,
0:04 welcome to the first video review for
0:06 unit 3 of the AP government curriculum.
0:07 This unit is all about civil liberties
0:09 and civil rights. And this video in
0:11 particular is an introduction to the
0:12 Bill of Rights. So, if you're ready to
0:14 get them brain cows milked, then let's
0:15 get to it. So, in this video, here's
0:17 what we're trying to do. Explain how the
0:18 US Constitution protects individual
0:21 liberties and rights and describe the
0:23 rights protected in the Bill of Rights.
0:25 Okay, so we've got plenty to do, but let
0:26 me remind you before we jump in that if
0:27 you need help getting an A in your class
0:29 and a five on your exam in May, then you
0:31 can grab my AP government review packet.
0:32 It's got exclusive videos that are not
0:34 here on YouTube and practice questions
0:35 and AP style practice exams and
0:37 basically everything your little heart
0:39 could possibly desire to succeed in your
0:41 class and do well on the exam. So, if
0:42 that's something you're into, then get
0:43 your clicky finger out and follow the
0:45 link in the description. Okay, so the
0:46 Bill of Rights, what is it and where did
0:48 it come from? Well, the Bill of Rights
0:49 includes the first 10 amendments to the
0:52 Constitution designed to protect civil
0:54 liberties. And what are civil liberties?
0:55 Civil liberties are constitutionally
0:57 established guarantees and freedoms that
0:59 protect citizens against arbitrary
1:01 government interference. In other words,
1:02 the Bill of Rights exists to keep big
1:04 daddy government from getting all up in
1:05 your business. Now, where did the Bill
1:07 of Rights come from? Well, as you no
1:08 doubt remember, there was a great fight
1:09 over the ratification of the
1:11 Constitution, and the waring factions
1:12 were known as the Federalists, who were
1:14 in favor of a more powerful central
1:16 government, and the anti-federalists,
1:17 who were in favor of more powerful
1:19 states. And since the constitution very
1:21 much invested the federal government,
1:22 the central government with more power
1:24 than it had under the Articles of
1:26 Confederation, the anti-federalists got
1:27 a little twitchy about the possibility
1:29 of that government becoming tyrannical
1:30 and squashing their freedoms. So the
1:32 anti-federalists said they would not
1:34 sign or ratify the Constitution without
1:36 a bill of rights that outlined the
1:38 specific liberties upon which the
1:39 federal government could not tread. Now,
1:40 probably the most important of these
1:42 anti-federalists for you to know is
1:44 George Mason. He was a delegate from
1:45 Virginia at the constitutional
1:47 convention and was not shy about
1:49 frequently opening his mouth hole and
1:51 protesting the Constitution's lack of a
1:53 bill of rights. Now, James Madison, who
1:54 wrote the Constitution, argued along
1:56 with his fellow Federalists that no Bill
1:58 of Rights was necessary because a free
2:00 government by the people had no right to
2:02 trample on civil liberties anyway, so
2:03 what's the point in spelling all of them
2:05 out? Plus, Madison said, "If we start
2:07 listing out specific protected rights,
2:09 it's very likely that something is going
2:11 to be left off that list, and thus
2:13 better not to specifically mention
2:14 anything." But Mason and the
2:16 anti-federalists were like, "Uh,
2:17 nuh-uh." And demanded that a bill of
2:19 rights be included if there was any hope
2:20 of their states ratifying the
2:22 Constitution. And so, Madison
2:24 compromised and finally agreed to
2:25 include a bill of rights as soon as the
2:27 requisite number of states ratified the
2:28 document. And that day came in September
2:30 of 1787 when the delegates at the
2:32 constitutional convention signed off on
2:34 the document. and then in the next year
2:35 when the constitution was finally
2:37 ratified. So Madison got to work on the
2:38 first 10 amendments to the constitution
2:40 and he drew heavily from George Mason's
2:42 own work in the Virginia Declaration of
2:43 Rights included in the state of
2:45 Virginia's constitution which in turn
2:46 borrowed from the English Bill of Rights
2:48 in the Magna Carta. Now Madison wrote
2:50 more than 10 amendments but only 10 of
2:51 them were ratified. And since I'm
2:53 devoting whole videos to the content of
2:55 these amendments here, I'm only going to
2:56 give you a taste. And look, I'm not just
2:58 listing these out for funsies. You do
2:59 have to have a working knowledge of
3:01 these amendments. And that's what this
3:03 whole unit is about. So let's have a
3:04 look. The first amendment protects the
3:06 freedom of religion, speech, press,
3:08 assembly, and petition. The second
3:09 amendment protects the right to keep and
3:11 bear arms. The third amendment protects
3:12 citizens from having soldiers quartered
3:14 in their homes. The fourth amendment
3:16 protects against unreasonable searches
3:17 and seizures of personal property and
3:19 effects. The fifth amendment deals with
3:20 the rights of citizens when they are
3:22 accused of crimes. In the same vein, the
3:24 sixth amendment explains how the process
3:26 will go when a person is accused of a
3:27 crime and explains the protections to
3:28 which they are entitled. The seventh
3:30 amendment guarantees the right to trial
3:32 by jury. The eth amendment protects
3:34 against cruel and unusual punishment and
3:35 excessive bail. The ninth amendment
3:37 acknowledges that if there are other
3:38 rights not mentioned in the first 10
3:40 amendments, their exclusion from the
3:42 list does not mean that such rights are
3:43 not protected. And the 10th amendment
3:45 says that any powers not explicitly
3:47 granted by the constitution to the
3:49 federal government belong exclusively to
3:51 the states. Okay, so that's the content
3:52 of the bill of rights. And there's one
3:54 more very important thing I need to
3:55 mention regarding these amendments. The
3:57 liberties outlined in the Bill of Rights
3:59 protect citizens from intrusion by the
4:01 federal government. And that was the
4:02 point of including these amendments. The
4:03 anti-federalists were afraid of
4:05 intrusion by the federal government. And
4:06 that's precisely what these 10
4:08 amendments protected them from. So that
4:09 means in the early days of the republic,
4:10 all the liberties listed in the Bill of
4:12 Rights protected citizens from the
4:14 federal government, not state
4:15 governments. Now, later with the passage
4:17 of the 14th Amendment, the Bill of
4:18 Rights will be applied to the states,
4:20 but that's not how it originally was.
4:21 All right, click here and grab my
4:22 ultimate review packet if you need some
4:23 help getting an A in your class and a
4:25 five on your exam in May. If you were
4:26 help by this video and you want me to
4:27 keep making them, then you can let me
