preview

The Importance Of Amendments To The Constitution

Decent Essays

The main idea common to the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. This idea of a republic was relatively new in the late eighteenth century, with many of the nations in Europe (which had control over most of the North American colonies) being governed either by constitutional monarchies, those being a king or queen bound by a set of basic restrictions, absolute monarchies, those being a king or queen with absolute power. King George III, to whom the Declaration of Independence was addressed, would be considered a Constitutional Monarch. The independence of the United States (referred to at the time as “these united states,” signifying their individual sovereignty over each …show more content…

There are currently twenty-seven amendments, but the first ten are the ones most commonly referred to as “the Bill of Rights.” Among the liberties granted to the people by these amendments are the right to free speech, to bear arms, to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and suffrage for oppressed groups such as African-Americans and women. Between 1791 and 2016, the social and political climate has changed significantly, as is evident in historical movements to amend the Constitution. During the Civil War and Reconstruction eras, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments granting rights to African-Americans, specifically an end to slavery, equal treatment for all citizens under the law, and suffrage for black men, respectively, were passed. The women’s vote was finally granted in 1920 with the nineteenth amendment, after hundreds of years of unfair representation. These amendments demonstrate that the ideas of our nation are constantly progressing, and provide a method to adapt the Constitution to reflect those

Get Access