The Bill of Rights. They’re basically the ten commandments of
the United States. And just like the ten commandments, most Americans
can only name three or four. Let’s solve that problem today. [Intro music] So it's summer and it gets pretty warm here, so I took my ferret to the river for the first time the other day. I very quickly learned that he actually likes
to swim but he’s not very good at it. So I decided to spend this weekend making
him a life preserver. And since I’ll be working with my hands
during this video I figured I’d teach you the Bill of Rights using just your hands as
well. Whether you’re trying to study for a test
or you’re just looking for a quick and easy way to remember all ten, I learned this trick
from Keith Hughes, of Hip Hughes History a few years ago. His version didn’t have all ten so I’ve
adapted them over the years. This is just a broad overview of the Bill
of Rights and does not include all the little intricacies of each amendment. Anyway, let’s go ahead and get started,
predictably, with the first amendment. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
Government for a redress of grievances. The first amendment has five freedoms. In fact that’s pretty important. The first amendment has five freedoms. Speech. Press. Religion. Petition. Assembly. I discussed freedom of speech in great detail
in my last video, so I won’t repeat too much of it here. But the main point is freedom of speech protects
you from the government in most cases. It does not protect you from losing your job,
being kicked off of a team, or being banned from a website. But for the most part you’re ok. The second freedom, press, is pretty straight
forward. Here in the United States we have no state-run
news agency. Hmm this seems pretty safe, right? I’m not going to cut into the leather or
anything. [Styrofoam popping]
Anyway, even free countries in Europe have channels that are controlled by the government
– most famously the BBC. They’re still granted a wide berth when
it comes to their freedom of what they can report. But here in the United States, the government
is not allowed to dictate what is and is not printed. Measure once cut once. There are very few examples of this but they
usually relate to immediate national security. The most recent example I can think of is
the raid on the Osama bin Laden compound. The media knew about the raid well before
they broadcasted it but at the request of the government they withheld that information
since one of the helicopters had crashed and broadcasting that might put the men on the
ground in more danger. This is typically called embargoing a news
story. This might end up being an entire video topic
in itself but freedom of religion has two parts, often forgotten by those who teach
these rights. The first part, freedom from religion, comes
from the establishment clause, which is also the basis for separation of church and state. This is why hanging the ten commandments in
your courthouse is usually looked down upon and why having a nativity scene on your city
hall lawn is usually protested. It’s also why the United States is under
no threat of sharia law… [Styrofoam popping]
The second part of the religious freedom section is the free exercise clause. This is the one that everyone remembers. There’s no laws restricting what religion
you can belong to or which one you practice. But like speech, that doesn’t mean you can
refuse to do your job or your homework because it's against your religion. It’s not some invincibility cloak you can
cover yourself with whenever you have to do something you don’t want to. It’s also why a certain presidential candidate’s
plan to ban an entire religion from entering the country would be completely unconstitutional. In Colonial America, if you didn’t like
something the government was doing, you could write a letter... that would probably be used
as wadding in the next musket ball headed your way. But now with the first amendment, you are
guaranteed the right to petition your government when you think they are doing something you
don’t like. Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me. I have some grievances I’d like to redress. The final right, assembly, is pretty obvious. You are allowed to publicly gather and protest
whatever it is that you think the government is doing wrong. Unfortunately there are a lot of rules about
when and where you’re allowed to do so… which has led many police officers to get
into their riot gear and some say abuse their power. Unfortunately there are way too many examples
of this happening so I can’t really cover it all in one video. But please remember you’re allowed to peacefully
assemble. Looting and burning cars is not covered by
the first amendment. Alright. So just to recap the first amendment has five
freedoms. Speech. Press. Religion. Petition. Assembly. [Sweeping] Looks like craft day is turning
into craft night. Now onto the second amendment, the right to
bear arms, which can also be represented with two fingers… one… two. Get it? Ok. 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. The second amendment is another one that deserves
a video entirely to itself. But basically... [Vacuuming]
(words muffled by vacuum) But really what’s most interesting is that
the Supreme Court didn’t decide that the second amendment applied to the individual
for home defense until 2008. Now to the third amendment. Stick with me, this one gets a little weird. No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered
in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be
prescribed by law. So back before independence, British soldiers
didn’t really have barracks to live in so they had to live in people’s homes. This served a dual purpose, both saving the
army money on building barracks, but also keeping the locals in line by having a soldier
live in your home. So when it came time for the Americans to
write their own rules, that one had to go. But look at the wording of that amendment…
no soldier shall be quartered in anyone's house… unless we need to during war. Why even have that part of the amendment?! We’re not going to allow this to happen. Unless we need it to happen. What?! Why does that make any sense?! Fun side note, when the American soldiers
were sent over to Britain in order to prepare for the invasion of Europe, the UK had no
rules like this so American soldiers were regularly quartered with British families. So, how do you remember this weird one? Well it's pretty easy, the three-legged soldier. Doesn’t matter how you look at it. He’s a mutated Fallout soldier… or a soldier
with a crutch… or you could just go with the natural truth that is all soldiers are
pretty well-endowed. No matter how you do it, I guarantee you’re
never going to forget it. So we’ve got the vest part that I made and
modified yesterday and now we’ve got the three flotation devices that we’ve made
that will be sewn in. So naturally it's time to move on to the fourth
amendment. The right of the people to be secure in their
persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall
not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath
or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons
or things to be seized. The fourth amendment is your protection against
unreasonable search and seizure. A lot of people interpret this as your right
to privacy, however nowhere is that actually written. This protects you against police entering
your house or searching your car unless they have a warrant or probable cause. What is probable cause? Someone screaming in the bedroom… or something
visible through the window. And I know I’ll get a lot of flak from the
pothead community but your drug of choice is very pungent and can be easily detected
when you roll your window down. That’s also probable cause. The fourth amendment has been in the news
a lot recently because of the patriot act and because of Edward Snowden’s exposure
of the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program. Not to mention the countless cases across
the country of police officers searching and arresting people without probable cause. So it's getting pretty late so I’m just
going to finish up by putting the flotation devices into the slots that I’ve created. And then I’ll sew these up and add some
snaps and stuff to it. And you’ll get to see it in action next
week when I finish the Bill of Rights. [Outro music]
