Can you name the first five Amendments to the Constitution? 99% of Americans can't!

[#shooter]

Americans love Idol more than their rights

I find it amazing how many Americans claim “they” have rights, yet so many of “them” don’t even know what their rights are. I hear people all the time on the news or in the newspaper complaining about their rights, I often wonder if they even know what their rights are or what the Constitution, particularly Bill of Rights, covers. It seems they don’t know much. :banghead:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060301/ap_on_re_us/freedom_poll

How can you cherish, uphold, and defend these rights if you don’t know what they are. It is a shame people know more about Idol and the Simpson’s than the foundation of American Government. I don’t expect the average person to be a Constitutional lawyer, but they should know the basics and including the Bill of Rights. No wonder most Americans don’t care about the Patriot Act, wire tapping, disarming New Orleans lawful citizens, seizing Google Yahoo and MSN search records, monitoring library lending records, state powers and limits, limits of the federal government, and separation of powers.

As Ben Franklin said “Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”

 

[Justin]

Face it, The Simpsons is way more funny than the Bill of Rights.

Of course, having a decent working knowledge of the Bill of Rights sometimes makes watching The Simpsons much funnier.

 

[NotOneMore]

D'oh!

Air America Radio has been talking about that, too - it's just disheartening no matter where on the political spectrum you find yourself.

 

[Fly320s]

#Shooter,

Since you brought up the subject, what are our rights? Just give a brief synopsis of what you believe our rights are.

I'm not trying to challenge you, nor anyone else. I'd like to conduct a non-scientific experiment here at THR. #Shooter will go first, followed by everyone else who wishes to contribute to this thread. Since we, as a group, are probably more knowledgeable about our civil rights than the average American, I want to see how we view our rights.

[edited] Ground rules: Keep it short, 2 paragraphs max. Keep it simple so that someone with no concept of government or civil rights can understand it.

#shooter, if you please...

 

[jlbraun]

A new study said that 22% of Americans can name all five Simpsons, while only 1% could summarize the first 5 Amendments of the US Constitution.

Now, without Googling, can you get the first five Amendments?

 

[SomeKid]

1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th 5th.

 

[Gordon Fink]

Most folks here can probably describe all 10 in the Bill of Rights, even if they don’t fully understand them, which is the larger problem.

~G. Fink

 

[VirgilCaine]

1: No laws prohibiting free exercise of religion, free speech, free right to assemble and right of petition for a redress of grievances.

2: "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."

3: No soldier shall be lodged in a private home except in time of war?

4: Right to protection from search and seizure.

5: Right to a speedy and public trial and right of habeas corpus?

That's at least four.

Checked: Doh! #5 is BIG!

 

[VirgilCaine]

Double Post.

 

[Can'thavenuthingood]

I heard the question asked of these kids that knew more about the Simpsons than the 1st.

It dealt with only the 1st Amendment and wanted to know what 5 freedoms the 1st protected.

Fortunately it still exists on Google.

Vick

 

[jlbraun]

Whoops!

Mods, please delete the other thread:

http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=186275

 

[hillbilly]

No google.

Here goes.

Freedom of Speech
Freedom of Religion
Freedom to assemble in public
Freedom to seek redress of grievances
Freedom to petition the government

And yes, it was the five specific freedoms listed specifically in the First Amendment, not the first five amendments

hillbilly

 

[hillbilly]

I muffed it slightly.

I split one freedom into two parts (redress and petition) and combined a pair with regards to religion.

hillbilly

 

[rick_reno]

At the rate this administration is going, in a few years they won't have any meaning than some vague historical reference. No reason for kids to know anything about them other than some guys got together and wrote them up a couple of hundred years ago.

 

[JesseJames]

(Sigh) Yeah, sad. But come on, I learned all that in 5th grade civics class.
I should refresh myself though.
As for that Idol show. I have seen the trainwrecks for aspiring singers and I absolutely refuse to watch it. I'll stick to PBS.

 

[TarpleyG]

[edited] Ground rules: Keep it short, 2 paragraphs max. Keep it simple so that someone with no concept of government or civil rights can understand it.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Probably not what you are looking for but it sums it up nice dontcha think.

Greg

 

[engineer151515]

Current MSN poll results:

Can you name the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment? (Click on red link below for the correct answer.) * 281259 responses


Freedom to vote, bear arms, pursue happiness, peacefully assemble and to enjoy due process
19%

Freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition for redress of grievances
76%

Freedom to enjoy a speedy trial, confront an accuser, bear arms, speak freely and petition for redress of grievances
6%

 

[El Tejon]

I have the right to loot from the productive, abortion, health care at another's expense, to live in a violence-free day care of a society and the right to create additional new rights whenever I need to buy votes.

 

[boofus]

Congress will pass no law abridging freedom of speech, or of the press. No law establishing religion or prohibiting free exercise of. Or prohibit the free assembly of people to petition the government for redress of grievances. (broken, mccain-feingold, 'free speech zones outside the DNC')

The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. (broken NFA1934, GCA1968, AWB)

In peace time no soldier will be quartered in a private home. In wartime it can be done if congress authorizes it by law. (broken, national guard soldiers in homes in Katrina)

People have the right to be secure from unreasonable search and seizure and only the judicial system can issue warrants under probable cause. (broken, NSA wiretaps, Katrina seizures)

No citizen will be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. (broken, katrina seizures, lautenberg domestic violence law)

So far the govt is 5 for 5 on violating the Bill of Rights.

 

[Can'thavenuthingood]

So far the govt is 5 for 5 on violating the Bill of Rights

You are citing Amendments rather than the freedoms of the 1st Amendment outlined by Hillbilly.

But since you brought it up, it all started with 12 acres of wheat in Ohio.
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/wickard.html

http://www.townhall.com/print/print...columns/walterwilliams/2003/11/05/170347.html

Then in http://www.supremelaw.org/decs/lopez/lopez.htm

....."the tiny step the U.S. Supreme Court took in its in U.S. Vs. Lopez (1995) ruling. In 1990, Congress passed the Gun-Free School Zones Act, citing its powers under the "Commerce Clause." Namely, the possession of a firearm in a local school zone substantially affected interstate commerce.

Why? Violent crime raises insurance costs, and those costs are spread throughout the population. Violent crime reduces the willingness of individuals to travel to high-crime areas within the country. Finally, crime threatens the learning environment, thereby reducing national productivity.


Commerce is a loophole to fit the world through. The government thrives on the Commerce Clause.

Without doing any actual research, I suspect all the Bill of Rights have been violated by Statute.

Vick

 

[dpesec]

I'm sorry to say I got 4 out of 5. I forgot about the quartering one. :banghead:

 

[GhostRider66]

This entire thread explains so much about why most Americans could not answer the poll question correctly. :banghead: :banghead:

 

[TallPine]

They should give this quiz (either version) to all aspiring candidates to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives ....

Besides, citizens don't need to know these things ... that's what the Supreme Court is for - to tell us what our rights are [not]

Now, throw away your Constitution and go back to watching TV

 

[Monkeyleg]

Doesn't surprise me (and, yes, I know all ten amendments).

A sizeable percentage of the population can't even name the vice president.

OTOH, maybe they're just saying that so they don't get shot.

 

[GunnySkox]

Without reading the thread:

1 ~ Freedom speech, religion, press, assembly

2 ~ RKBA

3 ~ No forcing people to quarter troops

4 ~ No unreasonable search/seizure

5 ~ No self incrimination, due process, etc.

~GnSx