CITIZENSHIP

The authors of the Constitution could not have imagined the world we would live in more than two hundred years later. But in their wisdom they designed a government flexible enough to meet the needs of a nation that would continue to grow and change. During the last two centuries, the strength of the Constitution has been tested many times. One of the most difficult issues for the young nation was the question of slavery. When the Constitution was written, many people believed slaves did not have the same rights as free Americans. Many others believed just as strongly that slavery was wrong and that the Constitution should treat everyone equally, regardless of their race. The struggle became so profound that in 1861 the states that were supporting slavery and the rights of states to determine their own laws tried to break away and form a separate country. Citizens of the other states fought against them in order to hold the nation together, and when the Civil War ended, America was still united. Constitutional liberties had been extended to all people regardless of race, but those bloody years of war will always be a dark reminder that our freedoms have a high price. Throughout our history, hundreds of thousands of Americans have paid that price by sacrificing their lives to defend the Constitution and the principles it embraces.

Your Rights As an American

Do you like to get together with your friends? Read all sorts of books and newspapers? Live in a home no one can enter unless invited? Those are rights that cannot be taken from you. You have the right to believe in any religion you want. You enjoy freedom of speech, and can travel freely.

Your rights, guaranteed by the Constitution and amendments, including the Bill of Rights, are shared by all Americans. It doesn't matter where ewe live, how much money we have, the color of our skin, whether we are male or female, or what we think - we are all equal under the law. Rarely in human history have the rights of every person been so respected.