120 CHAPTER 4|CIVIL LIBERTIES
DEFINING CIVIL LIBERTIES
E Defi ne "civil liberties," and explain how the Bill of Rights came to apply to the states. Pages 91–97
FREEDOM OF SPEECH, ASSEMBLY, AND THE PRESS
E Describe the major First Amendment rights related to freedom of speech. Pages 97–104
SUMMARY
The Bill of Rights—the fi rst ten amendments to the
Constitution—lists individual protections from the federal
government. For the majority of the nineteenth century
these individual freedoms were only guaranteed from the
federal government and did not extend to protections from
state governments. With the ratifi cation of the Fourteenth
Amendment and the process of selective incorporation, fed-
eral freedoms have been gradually extended to the state level.
KEY TERMS
Civil War Amendments (p. 95)
due process clause (p. 95)
selective incorporation (p. 97)
PRACTICE QUIZ QUESTIONS
- The Bill of Rights originally protected individuals from
which level of government?
a) all levels of American government
b) state governments
SUMMARY
The Court’s attempt to balance individual freedoms and the
public good is evident in the scope of protections guaran-
teed by the First Amendment. The Court generally priori-
tizes protecting individual rights to political speech, hate
speech, symbolic speech, the freedom to assemble, and the
freedom of the press unless under extreme circumstances
(such as speech that poses a direct incitement to violence).
By contrast, the Court regularly places a lower priority on,
STUDY GUIDE
c) local governments
d) federal government
e) the bureaucracy- Which amendment has been used as the basis for
selective incorporation?
a) Eighth Amendment
b) Fourteenth Amendment
c) Tenth Amendment
d) Nineteenth Amendment
e) Fifth Amendment
and aff ords far less protection to, fi ghting words, slander,
libel, and commercial speech.KEY TERMS
strict scrutiny (p. 98)
intermediate scrutiny (p. 98)
clear and present danger test (p. 99)
direct incitement test (p. 99)PRACTICE ONLINE with WWNORTON.COM/STUDYSPACE
Diagnostic Quiz & Key Term Flashcards for This Chapter
S PRACTICE ONLINE
“Big Think” video exercise: Where Do Civil Liberties
Come From?