Founding Fathers & Key Figures
This Virginian is known as the ‘Father of the Constitution’ and helped draft the Bill of Rights
James Madison
These are rights that people are born with and cannot be taken away
Natural Rights
This year the Declaration of Independence was officially adopted by the Continental Congress.
1776
This amendment protects your freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition.
1st Amendment
This famous two-word phrase from the Declaration of Independence begins with “We the People.”
Preamble
Who is the primary author of the Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson
What are the natural rights listed in the Declaration of Independence?
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
The Bill of Rights was ratified by the states in this year.
1791
The right to ‘keep and bear arms’ is protected by this amendment
2nd Amendment
Patrick Henry made this dramatic demand involving freedom and an alternative nobody wanted
Give me liberty or give me death
This founding father defended British soldiers in the Boston Massacre and later helped draft the Bill of Rights
John Adams
These are the first ten amendments to the Constitution
Bill of Rights
This 1787 meeting in Philadelphia led to the writing of the U.S. Constitution.
Constitutional Convention
This amendment prohibits excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishment.
8th Amendment
This three-word phrase describes the American promise of upward mobility, even if reality laughs sometimes
The American Dream
The enlightenment thinker’s ideas about natural rights heavily inspired Thomas Jefferson’s writing in the Declaration
John Locke
What idea about government is shared by both the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence?
The government must respect individual freedoms and cannot take rights away without due process
Before the Constitution, this earlier governing document created a weak national government for the United States.
Articles of Confederation
This amendment prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages
18th Amendment
Abraham Lincoln used this phrase to redefine the Civil War’s purpose during the Gettysburg Address
A new birth of freedom
She didn’t write the Declaration, but her famous letter to her husband urged him to ‘remember the ladies’
Abigail Adams
What is the purpose of the grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence?
A list of abuses showing how the British king violated colonists’ rights
Written primarily by James Madison in response to Anti-Federalist concerns, these papers argued for ratification of the Constitution and later influenced the creation of the Bill of Rights.
Federalist Papers
This amendment abolished slavery
13th Amendment
This phrase from Federalist No. 51 explains why the government is structured to restrain itself
Ambition must be made to counteract ambition