Laura Barcella - Know Your Rights!: A Modern Kids Guide to the American Constitution

America is obviously a pretty awesome country. Not only do we have Disney World, but weve also got boardwalk fries, Wi-Fi, an excess of toy stores, and the wonder that is deep-dish pizza. America was founded on a few basic principles that almost everyone can get behind: equality, liberty, and the right to do what makes you happy. But that doesnt mean you have free rein to do absolutely anything your heart desires. As you probably already know, this cool country of ours is run on laws that dictate what people can and cant do.

You might be thinking: That sounds super strict and boring! But we need laws to keep us safe (and to keep people from pushing us around!). With so many sharing one massive country, things could get pretty chaotic if we didnt have some basic rules in place.

Fast Fact

There are at least 5,000 criminal laws in America right now. A federal criminal law is a law that applies to all fifty states. There are other laws that only apply in certain states; those are called state laws.

Youre going to hear the term federal used throughout this book in different ways. Federal basically just means as in, having to do with the entire country. One way to remember this is to think about how a federal criminal law is a law that applies to the whole country.

If youve ever wondered who made the laws that run this countryand how those laws are enforcedkeep reading! This book will also explain to you exactly what YOUR rights are. Because no matter where you live; what , age, or gender you are; or what religious background you come from, youve got rightsa lot of them, actually. And so does your dad, your best friend, your teacher, and that eccentric guy you see sometimes at the grocery store. We all have rights. Now lets learn a little more about them!

THE U.S. CONSTITUTION: THE WHY, WHO, AND WHAT

Many of the laws we have today were put into place by the Constitution, a document signed way back in 1787 (yep, thats more than 200 years ago). But what is the Constitution, and why does it exist in the first place?

Why

The that we have today didnt exist until the U.S. Constitution was written. But to understand why the Constitution was created, well need to take a quick stroll down memory lane to a time before America was, well, America as we know it.

THE ORIGINAL THIRTEEN COLONIES

Before the United States became what it is now, it was made up of thirteen colonies ruled by Great Britain. Colonists became more and more upset about how they were being treated under the rule of King George III. Angry with the kings policies and that colonists concerns werent being met, small arguments began to turn into big squabbles.

For instance, colonists hated the Stamp Act of 1765 that introduced a requiring a stamp on printed materials such as newspapers, licenses, and even playing cards. They also hated the Tea Act that put a high tax on tea. Back then, most people were big tea drinkers, so they found this tax extremely outrageous and unfair! In fact, some enraged colonists disliked this tax so much that they dumped more than forty-five tons of tea into the Boston Harbor. By todays standards, the amount of tea they dumped out was worth $1,700,000! (This infamous incident became known as the Boston Tea Party.)

Colonists were desperate for both a new way of life and a new government that would represent them. So they began to fight for their freedom from British rule during the American Revolutionary War (or the American Revolution). On July 2, 1776, they formally announced they were cutting ties with Great Britain to form a brand new unionthe United States of America. To make it official, they drafted a document called the Declaration of Independence and approved all edits on July 4th. Today, we remember and celebrate this day as the Fourth of July, or Independence Day! The Founding Fathers (leaders of the revolution) signed the document in August. Seven of the most significant Founding Fathers were James Madison, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington.

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Fun Fact

Hamilton: An American Musical is a hip-hop Broadway musical about Alexander Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and Secretary of the U.S. Treasury.

In 2016, Hamilton received sixteen Tony nominations and won eleven, including Best Musical, and was the recipient of the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album and the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Who

In 1787, from twelve of the thirteen states that existed gathered at a big meeting called the Philadelphia Convention. That event, held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is commonly referred to as the Constitutional Convention, because an important aspect of it was the creation of the U.S. Constitution. Fifty-five delegates at the Convention helped create the Constitution, with thirty-nine actually signing the document.

A republic, if you can keep it.

This was Benjamin Franklins answer on the last day of the Philadelphia Convention when a woman asked him if the United States would be a republic, in which the power lies with the people, or a monarchy, like Britain, in which the power lies with a king or queen.