Ranking our Rights
AP US Government and Politics
Critical Analysis
According to the chart above, of the following rights, which do Americans think is the least important: freedom of speech, the right to vote, the right to privacy, freedom of religion, the right to own guns?
Why do you think that is?
What is one consequence of Americans' enduring love of freedom of speech?
What other Amendments (not listed above) would you personally describe as indispensable to your sense of freedom?
Is the right to vote protected in the Bill of Rights?*
How would you personally rank these five freedoms on a scale of most to least essential to your freedom and how do you think the average American Republican and Democrat would rank these five freedoms:
If you were an autocratic government, determined to take away citizens' rights (think Russian President Putin, or Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, or Rhode Island Governor Daniel J. McKee) explain which of those five rights would you first take away.* This is hypothetical - don't actually do this!!!!!
What's wrong with Americans that we no longer consider our Third Amendment freedom from having to quarter soldiers as essential to our freedom????!!!! Wake up America!
That Third Amendment right, which seemed essential in 1787 is more or less obsolete today. The Framers also were concerned about an overreaching national government and thus protected the right of states to form militias (2nd Amendment). Do you think that this idea is equally obsolete?
Imagine Americans wanted to abolish the 2nd and 3rd Amendment (we've abolished amendments before). Outline the steps Americans would need to take to do this?
Learning Extension
Read the Pew research Report on The Five Freedoms.
Action Extension
Ask any ten people to rank the rights from the list above. Share the results in class or online.
Visual Extension
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