Bill of Rights Rap
by Barbara and Jim Bongard
The Constitution was made for you
And friends it was made for me
It layed down the law for government
And said all people are free
It made three parts to the government
To run this country of ours
And it said "No part can get too strong!"
That's called the "Balance of Powers."
We have a president and senators
And rerpresentatives, too,
A Supreme Court with lots of judges,
And voters-yes that's you!
When the Constitution was written down,
Some started to scream and shout.
They said, "There are too many freedoms
that this document has left!"
James Madison helped to fix it up
With some special guarantees.
We call these freedoms the Bill of Rights,
They're civil liberties.
This thing we call the Bill of Rights
Is the amendment from one to ten
Listen carefully while we rap 'em out
'Cause we aren't goin' through 'em again!
Number one says we've got freedom
Of religion, speech and press
And we've got the right to assemble
And petition for redress
Number two says that this country
Needs to keep itself from harms,
So we need a state militia
& people need to keep thier arms
Number three says army soldiers
Don't have to live with us,
If we don't want them in our house
Then the government can't fuss.
Number four was written mainly
To keep police in line,
They need to have a warrant
To search your house or mine.
Number five says no court can out you
On trail more than one time,
You don't have to testify against yourself
If they accuse you of a crime.
Number six says if you're on trial
You must be told what the charges are
You must have a lawyer and witnesses
Must testiy before the bar.
Number seven is a special guarantee
So you need to have no fears,
Each citizen has the right to a trial
By a jury of your peers.
Number eight says that a punishment
Can't be unusual or cruel
And your fine or bail can't be so high
That goes against the rules.
Number nine was written in there
To let the government know
That we all have a lot more freedoms
Than this Bill of Rights can show
Number ten says that we have the power
In this amendment institution,
And the government can only do
What it says in the Constitution.
There is a lot more we could rap about
That we don't have time to say
So we're calling on you to think about
What it means to you today.
Though it's been around about 200 years
What was said back then is true,
The Constitution was made for me
And friends it was made for you!