The United States Constitution was originally drafted in 1787 and this did not contain the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights was ratified December 15, 1791 (McClenaghan 71). At that time, George Mason and others argued that it should not be included (Bender 27). James Madison believed that adding a bill of rights could give the government powers to take away people’s private rights (Madison 44). He stated that wherever power gives people the right to do something wrong, wrong doings will be done (Madison 44). Madison also felt that a bill of rights would give power to the new government to provide security which did not exist with the State Governments (Madison 44). Thomas Jefferson argued that even a bill of rights that only partially works is better than not having one (Jefferson 47). He felt that the judicial branch would get too much power and would enforce restrictions on government actions as well as individual’s actions (Jefferson 47). There was a fear that without proper construction, the Constitution would tell us what we can not do, instead of protecting all of our rights (Schroeder 70). Since that time, many of the amendments have been challenged. The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights is heavily debated as being unconstitutional. One challenge of the First Amendment always concerns freedom of religion. Justice Felix Frankfurter, who was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1939 and who was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union, believed that laws limiting, or promoting religion may be allowed because he argued that freedom of religion is not an absolute (Frankfurter 119). Thurmond stated that the First Amendment was only supposed to restrict the government from establishing a specific, required de... ... middle of paper ... ...ese-Americans During World War 2 Was Not Justified.” The Bill of Rights. Ed. Bruno Leone. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1994. Sanford, Edward. "Freedom of Speech Must Be Curbed for the Public Good." The Bill of Rights. Ed. Bruno Leone. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1994. Schroeder, Theodore. "Freedom of Speech Must Be Protected." The Bill of Rights. Ed. Bruno Leone. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1994. Thurmond, Strom. "School Prayers Do Not Violate the First Amendment." The Bill of Rights. Ed. Bruno Leone. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1994. Vinson, Fred. "Advocacy of Communism Is Not Protected By the Bill of Rights." The Bill of Rights. Ed. Bruno Leone. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1994. Wigmore, John. "Political Protest Should Be Restricted." The Bill of Rights. Ed. Bruno Leone. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1994.
The Bill of Rights was crafted in 1791 by James Madison. It was put in place to protect the rights of all people within the borders of the United States when it is applied by the government. It is a very important document that means a lot in the hearts of Americans.
Alonso, Karen. Schenck v. United States: restrictions on free speech. Springfield, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 1999. Print.
The first Amendment of the United States Constitution says; “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.”[1] Our fore fathers felt that this statement was plain enough for all to understand, however quite often the United States government deems it necessary to make laws to better define those rights that are stated in the Constitution. Today the framers would be both encouraged and discouraged by our modern interpretation the First Amendment the United States Constitution.
"The words of the first amendment are simple and majestic: 'Congress shall make no law abridging freedom of speech.' The proposed constitutional amendment would undermine that fundamental liberty."
Supporters of a constitution, lacking a bill of rights, were called Federalists. The Federalists included members such as Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, whom wrote a series of essays that were designed to inform and persuade the public of their views pertaining to the issues of the day. Among these views was whether a bill of rights should be added to the constitution. The Federalists, via Alexander Hamilton, dealt with this issue in a foremost way in their 84th essay. In the 84th essay Hamilton begins by explaining that a bill of rights, which are “in their origin, stipulations between kings and their subjects, abridgements of prerogative in favor of privilege, reservations of rights not surrendered to the prince.”
From the opening sentence of the essay, “We are free to be you, me, stupid, and dead”, Roger Rosenblatt hones in on a very potent and controversial topic. He notes the fundamental truth that although humans will regularly shield themselves with the omnipresent First Amendment, seldom do we enjoy having the privilege we so readily abuse be used against us. Freedom of speech has been a controversial issue throughout the world. Our ability to say whatever we want is very important to us as individuals and communities. Although freedom of speech and expression may sometimes be offensive to other people, it is still everyone’s right to express his/her opinion under the American constitution which states that “congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press”.
Peter, Sagal. “Should There Be Limits on Freedom of Speech?” 25 March. 2013. PSB. PBS.com 14 Nov.
The Bill of Rights was created as a listing of the rights granted to citizens, the Bill of Rights serves to protect the people from a powerful government. These civil rights granted to U.S. Citizens are included in the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Additionally, Locke’s ideas about checks and balances and the division of church and state were later embodied in the U.S. Constitution as well. The Constitution replaced a more weakly organized system of government as outlined under the Articles of Confederation. John Locke was an English philosopher who lived during 1632-1704.
In 1787, the Constitution, created by a group of men known as the “Framers”, is the highest law in the United States. At first, the Constitution was not ratify because it did not have a bill of rights which is a list of rights that belong to the people. Therefore to allow changes to the Constitution, the Framers created the amendment process. In 1791, congress proposed twelve changes to the Constitution. Ten of the twelve changes were agreed to by the states and were called “The Bill of Rights.” Some of these rights include the right of free speech, the right to practice your own religion and the right to be silent if you are arrested.
Our founding fathers wrote the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to protect our most basic rights as citizens of the United States, and although creating the Constitution was an arduous effort, eventually the new Americans came to an agreement over what was included. “The Bill of Rights — the first 10 amendments to the Constitution — went into effect on Dec. 15, 1791, when the state of Virginia ratified it, giving the bill the majority of ratifying states required to protect citizens from the power of the federal government.” (First Amendment Center). After the first amendment went into effect, all religious minorities were now protected from persecution, and people could freely speak their
Church-state relations in America has been widely discussed and hotly debated. One school of thought holds that the church should be absolutely separated from the state, while another holds that the church plays a moral role in state building and its sanctity, without which the state risks falling apart. In my discussion of the church-state relations, I state that the history of church-state relations has a Constitutional basis. Next, I discuss the two schools of thought in context and how they have shaped contemporary American political thought. Finally, I argue that the two schools of thought have a common ground. This is followed by a summary of my key arguments and a conclusion to my essay.
In the summer of 1787, delegates from the 13 states convened in Philadelphia and drafted a remarkable blueprint for self-government, the Constitution of the United States. The first draft set up a system of checks and balances that included a strong executive branch, a representative legislature and a federal judiciary. The Constitution was remarkable, but deeply flawed. For one thing, it did not include a specific declaration, or bill, of individual rights. It specified what the government could do but did not say what it could not do. For another, it did not apply to everyone. The "consent of the governed" meant propertied white men only. The Bill of Rights did not come from a desire to protect the liberties won in the American Revolution, but rather from a fear of the powers of the new federal government.
According to “Freedom of Speech” by Gerald Leinwand, Abraham Lincoln once asked, “Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for the liberties of its people, or too weak to maintain its own existence (7)?” This question is particularly appropriate when considering what is perhaps the most sacred of all our Constitutionally guaranteed rights, freedom of expression. Lincoln knew well the potential dangers of expression, having steered the Union through the bitterly divisive Civil War, but he held the Constitution dear enough to protect its promises whenever possible (8).
Our bill of rights all began when James Madison, the primary author of the constitution, proposed 20 amendments for the bill of rights and not the ten we know of today. Madison sent these twenty proposed rights through the house and the senate and was left with twelve bill of rights. Madison himself took some out. These amendments were then sent to the states to be ratified. Virginia was the tenth state out of the fourteenth states to approve 10 out of 12 amendments. This two-third majority was necessary to make the bill of rights legal. On December 15, 1791 the bill of rights were finally ratified.
[4] Hickok, Eugene Jr., ed. The Bill of Rights: Original Meaning and Current Understanding. Virginia: University Press of Virginia, 1991