Hamilton's Ten Amendments: The Bill Of Rights

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.

To further strengthen the rights of the people, The Bill of Rights was ratified on December 15, 1791. With only the first ten amendments, it is no accident that two amendments, 9 and 10, specifically define the Constitutions purpose to protect rights, given to the government from the people; and the powers of the government are “only those delegated to it by the Constitution on behalf of the people” (Spalding, Page 145).

The Bill of Rights became a very important document in the United States Constitution in order to ensure United States citizens equal protection of their rights and liberties. The main objective of the Bill of rights was to place limits on the national government creating an understanding and dividing the powers between the states and the national government. Not all the powers were granted to the national government however not all the powers were prohibited to the states. As stated by Ginsberg, Lowi, Weir & Tolbert (2015) the bill of rights consists of 10 amendments incorporated in the U.S constitution. It is important to note that each amendment contains a legal court case in which the supreme court as well as the government have ruled and have ignored or have protected the rights of the individuals involved.

When the first ten amendments were added to the Constitution, they were planned to shield the public from the national government and not the states. States had their individual constitutions, and their laws only had to comply with their constitution. The founders of our country were very concerned about creating too powerful of a centralized government that might overstep on the given civil liberties of the public. As a protection of individual liberties, the Bill of Rights was formed. The Bill of Rights contains the first ten amendments of the Constitution and protect and preserve inalienable rights against abuse by the federal government.

A quote from Thomas Jefferson said that "a bill of rights is what a people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse or rest on inference (Schweikart)." One would think that Jefferson was a wise man for saying this. His words were powerful. Many people felt this way and the American people did not want a corrupt government that was only for the rich. During the writing of the bill of right there were the Federalist and the anti-federalist the two were in disagreement of whether the ten amendments should be added. The Federalist felt as if the constitution was already completed and nothing should be added, although the anti federalist felt that the people’s rights should be set in stone, and some things needed to be added to the constitution to reassure the people. The anti Federalist wanted to change the wording of the United States Constitution. The Federalist disagreed and said that no one had the right to change the United States constitution and that the bills should be reviewed and added on to the constitution. “The House voted to accept the Bill of Rights on September 24, 1789, with the Senate concurring the following day. (Bingham)" The bill of rights was there to ensure that the people followed the rules and that the government could not invade their rights. “Apparently, the first 10 amendments officially became part of the Constitution with their ratification by Virginia in late

When the Framers wrote “securing the blessings of liberty,” they were referring to the freedom to criticize the government or petition it when they disagreed with its policies, in other words, even though they wanted a government, most of them were still skeptical about the idea. The Bill of Rights was the first ten amendments provided that personal liberties, so the government did not have the power to violate those rights set down no matter what, now we have 27 amendments.

When the original Articles of Confederation was drafted in 1777, a bill of rights was considered unnecessary. The U.S government was not considered a single national government, but an alliance of independent states. Since the national government has no power to restrict people’s rights, there was no need for laws to prevent it from doing so. During the Constitutional Convention of 1787 the Constitution was passed without a bill of rights. When the constitution was sent to the states for ratification, a debate broke out between the Federalists, who supported a strong national government, and the Anti-Federalists, who supported retaining the spirit of the Articles of Confederation . Although the constitution was passed without a bill of rights, some Anti-Federalists felt that that it would be worthwhile to specifically protect through constitutional amendments such individual rights as free speech, religious exercise, and jury trials. Thomas Jefferson who sided with Anti-Federalists on this matter, sent a letter in 1789 to James Madison to pass the bill of rights . Madison submitted a draft of his proposed bill of rights several months later, and Congress passed it modified version by the end of the year. After ratification by the states, the Final Bill of Rights consisted of ten amendments that covered a wide range of topics, guaranteeing citizens individual rights such as freedom of speech and religious liberty and protecting them from excessive bail, unwarranted searches,

The Bill of Rights were added to our Constitution because the framers wanted to protect the citizen’s individual rights and so that the government can’t abuse it’s power.

In 1791, the Bill of Rights was created to specify the individual rights of every human being. Madison James is the creator of the 10 Amendments, he believed it was necessary to create the document to further explain what the Constitution will provide for each person. The Bill of Rights gives every citizen the right to freedom of religion, freedom of speech, as well as the freedom of the press, and lastly the due process rights. This document was formed when the Constitution in 1789 was drafted. Federalist viewed the Bill of Rights as an unnecessary document that the Anti-federalist wanted in order to feel safe in knowing what the Constitution was really about and what was entitled to them.

In 1791, a vital document for the United States of America was written. The Bill of Rights. James Madison fulfilled the Anti-Federalists wishes by adding a list of rights to the constitution in order for the document to be ratified. The Bill of Rights addresses rights and freedoms which were violated under British rule. Although all 10 amendments are important, I have analyzed each one and ranked their importance. In 1791, some amendments would seem more important than others due to the recent events from the Revolution. Each amendment is relevant in its own way but some are exercised more than others by individuals in the United States. The first amendment of the Bill of Rights is the most important amendment.

Although the constitutions main goal was to establish a strong government after the failed Articles of Confederation, there are still five parts that take part in protecting individual rights of the people. The Bill of Rights, which is the first 10 amendments. Amendment 1: Freedom of religion, speech, and press. Amendment 2: Right to keep or bear arms. Amendment 3: Protection from quartering soldiers. Amendment 4: Protection from unreasonable search or seizure. Amendment 5: Right to due process of law. Amendment 6: Right to trial by jury, speedy trial, public trial, counsel. Amendment 7: Right to civil by trial by jury. Amendment 8: Prohibition of excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment. Amendment 9: Protection of rights not enumerated in the Constitution. Amendment 10: Protection of the powers of the states and the people. Amendments 14, 15, 19, and 26 are also other amendments/parts that are for the rights of people. Amendment 14 is citizenship rights. This amendment gives citizenship to anyone born

The Bill of Rights, written by Antifederalists, shows us how some Americans were fearful of a strong central government, how they wanted a limited government so it wasn’t too powerful, and how they protected basic individual rights. The Anti-federalists begged and argued for a new list that secured the rights they believed the original Constitution did not provide. There was a constant debate between whether or not to add the Bill of Rights, because some people thought that if they created it, all other rights were insignificant. Many Americans were fearful that the government was going to have too much power because of the Constitution, but they felt secure if they made a list of their official rights. Most of the people who wanted the Bill of Rights, were poor people, who felt they needed a say in the government.

Federalists argued that the Constitution did not need the Bill of Rights. Anti- Federalists (Thomas Jefferson) argued it was necessary to guard the individual citizen. The Federalists wanted to be the superior government over the state government, where as the Anti-federalists wanted the opposite. Thomas Jefferson thought that if the Federalist were the superior government, that the individual citizen wouldn’t have a voice to speak for themselves; that they couldn’t be entitled to their own opinion. This is why the Bill of Rights was put into place. The Amendments make up the Bill of Rights to separate government and

Although all of the ten amendments in the Bill of Rights are important, two of the amendments that made a huge impact in United States history are the first and second amendments. These amendments not only shaped many events from 1790 - 1820, but continue to influence recent history, as well. The Bill of Rights was ratified December 15, 1791, with the first amendment giving us the freedom of speech, religion, and press, and the second amendment giving us the right to bear arms.

Originally the Constitutional framers did not include a list of specific liberties. These liberties later would become a Bill of Rights. Many of the founding fathers did not believe it was necessary to spell out these individual liberties because they felt that the U.S. Constitution already made it clear what the limits on the government’s powers were. Soon it would become more evident that the Constitution didn’t go far enough in addressing the issue of national power. As the ratification debates began, numerous issues arose. The framers realized the pressing need for a specific Bill of Rights.