Lesson Title:  Inalienable Rights

By: Maria Inglefield, Teacher Consultant, Wasatch Range Writing Project

Burning Question: Do students understand the concept of inalienable rights as expressed (and not expressed) in our Founding Documents?

Objective:

• Students will become knowledgeable about the theory of inalienable rights.
• Students will become knowledgeable about the theory of inalienable rights in relation to theories of governance.
• Students will become knowledgeable about the theory of inalienable and the contradiction of slavery, which is protected in the 1787 U.S. Constitution.
• Students will become knowledgeable about the theory of inalienable rights and the responsibilities we all have towards each other

Context: Students in grades 8 - 12 in American History, American Government, or American Literature.

Materials:

• Texts
  • The Declaration of Independence: http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch1s5.html
  • The Slaves' Petition, 1774: http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch14s9.html.
  • The Pennsylvania State Constitution of 1776: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/pa08.asp
  • The United States Constitution, by Hennessey and McConnell
• Poster Boards
• Yarn (for sandwich boards)
• Note/Index cards
• Writing Supplies

Time Span: Variable

Procedures:

• Students with review the definition of inalienable rights:
  • Inalienable rights, also called natural rights, also called human rights refers to rights that cannot be surrendered, sold or transferred to someone else, except with the consent of the person possessing those rights. Inalienable rights are part of what makes us human. Governments are instituted to “secure," not grant or create, these rights. In other words, governments are not the source of inalienable rights. These rights cannot be bartered away, or given away, or taken away by government except by due process of law. Students will read the second paragraph of The Declaration of Independence.
• Students will write or verbally respond to questions about the argument being made to justify independence from England using the argument of inalienable rights:
  • Who has inalienable rights according to the document?
  • How are "all men created equal?
  • Where do inalienable rights come from?
  • What is "pursuit of happiness"?
  • Why do human create governments?
• Students will read aloud the Slave Petition to the Governor, Council, and House of Representatives of the Province of Massachusetts,  which was written two years prior to The Declaration of Independence. Students will write or discuss in small groups the two arguments the slaves present for their freedom:
  • the one based on the theory of human or inalienable rights
  • the one based on religion
• Students will read the A Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of the Commonwealth or state of Pennsylvania which was part of the state constitution of 1776. This text committed that government to protect inalienable rights. Students will work in small groups to determine what rights are listed.
• Students will discuss the fact that the 1787 U.S. Constitution does not commit the national government to protect inalienable rights or the inhabitants. The Bill of Rights is a series of amendments (#s 1-9) that actually take power away from national government in order to protect inalienable rights, in stark contrast to the reconstruction amendments (#s 13-15) which expand the power of the national government to actively protect both civil and inalienable rights.
• Students will discuss Due Process of Law which  means the government can deny people life, liberty and property, but only through process of law.
• Break students into nine groups.  Assign each group an amendment to read and report back on to the class, using the graphic novel, The United States Constitution, by Hennessey and McConnell. Use effective grouping strategies so that all learners can take part in the process. Students will transform the graphic novel rendering of their assigned amendment into an artistic sandwich board to wear and share with the class.
• Review the first major court case having to do with inalienable rights, Dred Scott v. Sandford. See p 120 of The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation, by Hennessey and McConnell. See also, http://www.streetlaw.org/en/Case.17.aspx. This site can be accessed through the Weber County Library- Teen Sites Section. Look under Government and Politics and click on Landmark Supreme Court Cases. Included with the case information is a series of teaching strategies, such as case study, moot court, role-play, political cartoon analysis, legislative simulation and many other great teaching ideas.  
• Review the changes to the Constitution which overturned the Dred Scott case.
  • How do these amendments overturn the interpretation of the Constitution in the Scott case?
  • How do these amendments limit the power of the states to deny inalienable rights? to deny civil rights?
  • How do these amendments increase the power of the national government to actively protect inalienable rights? civil rights?
• Talk about the difference between inalienable rights and civil rights. Refer to p 126 of The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation, by Hennessey and McConnell. Read to the end of the book with your class and discuss the last group of amendments.
  • Inalienable rights are the rights every individual has whether in or out of society.
  • Civil rights are rights granted by the government. They are not unalienable. Civil rights include such things as the right to drive and the right to vote. Civil rights are legitimately created by the society to maintain peace, order, and security.  
  • Revisit the WCL site to access the court cases, Plessy v. Ferguson, followed by its reversal, Brown v. Board of Education. Students should be writing questions for the teacher on note cards to pass to the teacher at an appropriate time. She/he should take up these cards and get correct answers for the students.

  Extensions:

  • Using modern short stories such as Aldous Huxley’s, Young Archimedes, chapters from Gloria Naylor’s novels, The Women of Brewster Place or Bailey’s Caféé, and novels like Flowers for Algernon or The Education of Little Tree, teachers can use fiction to increase student exposure to and understanding of the idea of inalienable rights. This short list of possible fiction choices is just a jumping off point. Augment and use you own discretion as to which fiction is best suited to your needs or classroom community.
  • Teach students about The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. (See http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/.)

  Rationale: Listed are a few connections to the Utah Core.

  - Objective 4

  • Analyze the rights, liberties, and responsibilities of citizens. Identify the responsibilities of citizenship: vote, perform jury duty, obey laws.
  • Examine the Bill of Rights and its specific guarantees.

  - Objective 3

  • Examine the basic structure of the Constitution.
  • Explain the purpose of the Constitution as outlined in the preamble.
  • Determine the role of the Constitution as a living document.

  Resources:

  • Hennessey, Jonathan and Aaron McConnell. The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation. New York: Hill and Wang, 2008.
  • Slaves Petition 1774:  http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch14s9.html
  • Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776, Declaration of Rights: http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/bill_of_rightss5.html
  • From Digital History, information about the Dred Scott case: http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=334
  • Landmark Supreme Court cases: http://www.streetlaw.org/en/landmark.aspx