In 1789 James Madison introduced the Bill of Rights-the first ten amendments of the Constitution, to the First Congress. The Bill was heavily influenced by Virginia’s Declaration of Rights and used primarily to protect the citizen’s rights and liberties as well as, as a limitation on the federal government. The “original Constitution contained few guarantees” for civil rights and liberties therefore, the Bill of Rights strengthened them mitigating fears about the new national government (O’Brien 324). Madison and Anti-Federalists hoped to place the same restrictions on states. They found the Bill of Rights practical, explicit, and essential while Federalists found it unnecessary and potentially dangerous. Hamilton seeks justification against the Bill of Rights using the Constitution’s preamble which briefly notes the “liberty” and “prosperity” afforded to the American people (326). He also argues that the Bill may be dangerous because these exceptions being placed on powers have not yet been granted (326). Nonetheless, in September on 1789, Congress proposed 12 amendments to state legislatures which were shortly ratified thereafter in 1791 (326). Following the enactment of the Bill of Rights, the debate continued as to whether these Amendments should be applied to state and local as well as the federal government. Anti-Federalists promoted the enactment of the Bill enforced in state and local governments to protect citizens from their local governments and to ensure their rights on the state and local level. Post Civil War, Reconstruction Amendments were put into place to guarantee freedom and rights to African Americans. These Amendments are enforced by the due process clause. During the 20th century, the Bill of Rights began ... ... middle of paper ... ...ch the Bill of Rights can be exercised in state and local governments. While the Bill of Rights had been enacted in the late eighteenth century, it took two more centuries before limits were placed on state governments. This, is credited to ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. While the Fourteenth Amendment may not have been intended for this purpose, it aided in the application of the Bill of Rights. Landmark cases such as Barron v Baltimore, the Slaughterhouse Cases, Hurtado v California, and WV Board of Education v Barnette, demonstrate the revolution of incorporation. Works Cited Fisher, Shauna. "Incorporation of the Bill of Rights." Constitutional Law II. Syracuse Univeristy, Syracuse, NY. 26 Jan. 2012. Lecture. O'Brien, David M. Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. 7th ed. Vol. 2. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2008. Print. Constitutional Law and Politics.
The Constitution lays out the rights and obligations of the newly formed United States government. But, what of the rights and obligations of its citizens? Starting in 1791 only two years after the Constitution was ratified the Constitution began to evolve and this process continues to this day. The first ten amendments to the Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights. This Bill of Rights outlines the protections which citizens have from the government of the United States. The question raised in the title of this paper is; Are the Bill of Rights, written well over 200 years ago still relevant today? Of course they are and probably even more so. To illustrate this fact we will examine each of the ten amendments rewrite each one using common everyday language of today and if possible discuss why this was important in 1791 and why we may or may not need this document in writing today. In restating each amendment I will try to write it as if it is a brand new document, which is a stretch to say the least. With out the struggle of the colonies through war and abuse by the English Monarchy would one have the foresight to see how a government may take for granted the rights of its citizenry?
Schultz, David, and John R. Vile. The Encyclopedia of Civil Liberties in America. 710-712. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale Virtual Reference Library, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. .
Patterson, T. E. (2012). Ch. 4 Civil Liberties: Protecting Individual Rights. We the people (Tenth ed.). : McGraw-Hill Humanities.
The U.S. constitution did not originally have the Bill of Rights when it was ratified in 1787 (Bingham). Anti-federalists, who feared the power of the government, demanded the inclusion of the Bill of Rights. This was in opposition to the Federalists, who believed the Bill was not necessary (Bingham). These two arguing sides, the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, consisted mostly of the rich and politically influenced, and the poor and businessmen and merchants, respectively. The latter’s side become more sensible, as a war had just been fought to remove a dominating government power, and the Anti-Federalists wanted to protect their freedom and assure another Empire did
When the Second Constitutional Convention wrote the Constitution in 1787, there was a controversy between the federalists and the anti-federalists surrounding whether or not to have a Bill of Rights. The anti-federalists claimed that a bill of rights was needed that listed the guaranteed rights that the government could never take away from a person i.e. “inalienable rights.” A Bill of Rights was eventually deemed necessary, and has worked for over 210 years. There are many reasons why the ten amendments are still valid to this day, and the best examples are the First Amendment, concerning the freedom of religion, the Fifth Amendment, and the Sixth Amendment.
[4] Hickok, Eugene Jr., ed. The Bill of Rights: Original Meaning and Current Understanding. Virginia: University Press of Virginia, 1991
Vettese, J. (2011, September 20). Speak Outs - What are the civil rights issues of
The Fourteenth amendment states that all persons born/naturalized in the United States of America shall, and deserve to , enjoy their full rights. The process of using the Fourteenth Amendment to apply the Bill of Rights to state governments is known as incorporation. In this case, it is selective incorporation. Selective Incorporation is simply a doctrine or belief written into the Constitution that's purpose is to protect American citizens from their states’ enacting laws that could potentially violate their rights.
Throughout American history, our civil liberties as American citizens have evolved immensely. For example, the first ten amendments in the U.S. Constitution are referred to as the “The Bill of Rights,” which contains some of the most cherished civil liberties, such as freedom of speech and religion. These civil liberties however, did not originally apply to state governments or institutions the state established. The Bill of Rights focused solely on what the national government could not do, allowing state governments to do whatever they wanted. For example, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire supported Congregationalist ministers with tax payer dollars for decades. After the Civil War, civil liberties expanded, because three new amendments were added: the Thirteenth, abolishing slavery, the Fourteenth, which redefined civil liberties and rights, and the Fifteenth, which allowed adult, male citizens to vote. The due process clause (contained in the Fourteenth Amendment) became one of the most important civil liberties, because it applied the language of the Fifth Amendment to state governments, proclaiming that they could not “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law....
"Bill of Rights and Later Amendments." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.
1. Our great country was founded upon a high set of principles, values, and laws. Many of these are easily seen when looking at the United States constitution. The first ten amendments are what is commonly known as the Bill of Rights. This is good and all, but until the fourteenth amendment was passed, the Bill of Rights only was applied to the Federal government. The 14th amendment has a clause that says, "no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States." The Supreme Court ruled against “Total Incorporation”, but instead ruled in favor of “Selective Incorporation”. This meaning that the Supreme Court would define the constitutionality of the treatment of a citizen by the state.
Declared in the U.S. Constitution every American or should it be person, is guaranteed civil rights. Civil rights did not just consist of “freedom of speech and assembly,” but as well as “the right to vote, the right to equal protection under the law, and procedural guarantees in criminal and civil rights,” (Dawood). It was not until 1791, that the Bill of Rights was appended to the constitution, which helped clarify these rights to citizens. “Rights were eventually applied against actions of the state governments in a series of cases decide by the Supreme Court,” Dawood stated. In previous years (1790-1803), the Supreme Court had little say in decisions being made by government. As time went on the Supreme Court took on more responsibility and started making additional decisions, which in time helped minorities gain their civil rights. It took a couple of years, as a matter of fact till the 1900’s for the Supreme Court to get out of the “ideology of white supremacy and the practice of racism,” (Smith). Though the decisions of the Supreme Court were not all that appreciated in the beginning, following the 20th century the court really facilitated in the advancements of civil rights.
Another argument used by Hamilton was reminding, those who criticize the constitution for lacking a Bill of Rights, that many of the state constitutions do not contain one either. He believes that the Constitution, as is, effectively includes a bill of rights. The constitution contained various provisions in favor of particular privileges and rights. Provisions such as the power to impeach, writ of habeas corpus, the allowance for no bill of attainder or ex post facto law, no granting of title of nobility, trials that shall be by a jury in the state which the crime was committed within, and that punishment for treason will not extend to family members of the person convicted of that crime.
In our history, the government and other people have made laws and chases to lead to greater freedom. The Bill of Rights was made in 1791 to secure the freedom of the American people. In the beginning, the Bill
On December 15th, 1971 the Bill of Rights was incorporated into the United States Constitution. The Bill of Rights is where one can find most of the procedural or due process rights given to criminal suspects in the United States of America (Bohm & Haley 2012). The United States Constitution is the foundation of which America was built on and is what grants Americans freedom. When I joined the United States Military I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies foreign and domestic and it is something I would die for. The fourth, fifth, sixth and, eighth amendment are very important to each United States citizen including criminals.