The Importance Of The Bill Of Rights

The bill of rights is a popular document that was not originally in the US constitution, but anti federalists wanted a bill of rights really bad because supposedly they were afraid of a strong central government. They did not want another king so some states refused the constitution until there was a bill of rights. Along with being afraid of a central government they wanted a limited government so that government could not control them. The anti federalists also thought the government would not protect their individual rights enough so they wanted a bill of rights.

Do you know what keeps, and has kept America in order since 1789? That would be The Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is simply the first ten amendments. Written by James Madison, The Bill of Rights lists specific prohibitions on governmental power. The Bill of Rights was officially added into the constitution in 1791. The amendments are on display in the National Archives Museum.

The Federalists wanted a strong central government, I feel that the Bill of Rights helps strengthen the government by giving it structure and giving it a backbone so it could grow as the nation grows. This is why I felt that the Anti-Federalists held a stronger position in debate. The Constitution is an important document for the condition of the nation, but the Bill of Rights, and the freedom of the people, is equally as

Anti-Federalism, an 18th century political movement led primarily by Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams, opposed the ratification of the new United States Constitution for multiple reasons. [B] The new U.S. Constitution was written by a group of delegates selected for the 1787 Constitutional Convention which took place in Philadelphia. A chief reason Anti-Federalists were highly concerned with this document was the amount of power it would give the federal government. They worried that the implementation of a strong centralized government could only be possible at the expense of individual states rights and freedoms. Anti-Federalists were also concerned that smaller states, who had previously held as much weight in national affairs as larger states, may be ignored or trampled upon in regards to passing interstate laws and amending federal documents. Another concern of the Anti-Federalists was the absence of a Bill of Rights, a specific list of personal rights possessed by American citizens, in the Constitution. They feared that without this bill of stated rights, there would be no guarantee that the American government, under the Constitution, would not pass tyrannical laws resembling those implemented by the British just prior to the American Revolution. [A]

The Constitution of the United States was made through compromises that not everyone agreed on but they came to an agreement on what they thought it should be. Before all of the fifty states were founded there was not a Bill of Rights, it was not until the new government was up and running before the Bill of Rights was added. The reason for this was that the framers of the constitution did not realize that the Bill of Rights was necessary to have at the time. A certainly important choice that was made was how our government was to be

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.

During the Revolutionary War, colonists believed that they needed a sense of unified government, so this led to the creation of the Articles of Confederation, the first written constitution of the United States (history.com). Although the Articles of Confederation had its strengths, such as allowing the central government to create treaties and maintain military, it had many weaknesses, such as preventing the central government to levy taxes and regulate trade. It also could not be changed unless there was a unanimous decision and it lacked a stable currency. Since the creation of the Articles of Confederation had many issues and weaknesses, the Continental Congress rewrote the Articles into what is now known as the U.S Constitution. The Constitution established a national government, guaranteed basic rights for the colonists and revised almost everything that was wrong in the original Articles, such as the sovereignty that resided primarily in the states and the lack of power from the national government. The Constitution was later ratified by all 13 states in May 1790, with the support of the Federalist Party. [A] Federalists believed in the commitment to a strong national government and in the practice of a separation of powers. However, Anti-Federalists had the opposite view which was the opposition of a strong national government, the support for small landowners, and the representation of rights of the people. Anti-Federalists believed that a strong national government

Created September 25,1978 and ratified December 15, 179, the Bill of Rights was imputed into society as a tool to establish law,order, and morality. James Madison, a political theorist, was known as the father of the Bill of Rights. One of the most important amendments in the Bill of Rights is the right to freedom of speech, expression and media. In the Bill of Rights, the First Amendment states, “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.” The First Amendment guarantees the citizens of America that they have the right to freely express themselves about anything, including political arguments and views. This amendment also guarantees the press/media the right to overtly publish their ideas on any topic in the newspaper. The purpose of this amendment is to assure America’s people that they shouldn’t worry about being censored or punished for the expression of their feelings because they are human just as everyone else.

The Articles of Confederation created many problems to the new government, after the Revolutionary War. It contained a weak national government and a strong state government. After the Revolutionary War, many colonists still feared Parliament and the monarchy they were once ruled by. Therefore, they created the Articles of Confederation with a weak national government and gave all the power to the states. But, many individuals did not favor the Articles of Confederation because it gave the states equal representations, no matter how big the state, and did not give the national government the ability to tax. Therefore, the ratifying of the Constitution took place. In this new Constitution, Framers wanted to create a new nation. With a separation of powers, and a new system of checks and balances between each branch. The new Constitution, expelled all of the problems within the Articles of Confederation. But, it did not include the secure liberties that the colonists had fought for. Therefore, the Bill of Rights was proposed in order to secure our blessings of liberty and to ensure that the colonists will never chant, “no taxation without representation,” ever again.

The Constitution did not include the Bill of Rights, the Anti- Federalists believed that this was yet another example of there being no limit on the centralized government’s power, and there was no protection for the

The Constitution alone was not enough for the anti-federalists; they believed that there had to be a Bill of rights in order to protect citizens. The Bill would simply state the clear rules and regulations that allowed the citizens to know what the government is and is not allowed to do. The federalists argued that the constitution already established rights for the citizens and a Bill was not necessary, however the Anti federalists would only agree to ratify the Constitution if there was a bill of rights. Yates argues a major point in the Anti –Federalists papers against the necessary and proper clause of the Constitution, he states, “The Congress shall judge of what is necessary and proper in all these cases and in all other cases;-in short in all cases whatsoever. Where then is the restraint?” (Essay II) There had to be a law preventing the government from being unfair or abusing power to the citizens. The Bill of rights was then created as a result of lots of compromise. It then allowed the people to know there rights if they needed to protect themselves in any way. This bill gave the citizens back the power that the antifederalists thought the citizens would not have under a federal

They used the Bill of Rights as a compromise that brought everyone together, so that all thirteen states ratified the constitution. Anti-Federalists largest concern was that there was not Bill of Rights written within the Constitution. A Bill of Rights is a list of rights that the common man is entitled to, that are written within the laws of the government. Many Federalists, such as Alexander Hamilton, believed that a Bill of Rights would be pointless because they already distributed the powers within the government so tightly, that there would be no way for the government to abuse people’s powers. This being said they came to the conclusion that if all the states ratified the new Constitution, then they would amend it and create a Bill of Rights.

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

In 1787, the weak form of government brought together by the Articles of Confederation was not doing its justice for the colonists. In the Articles of Confederation, there was only one branch of government, that one branch had no power over the states. This soon proved to be ineffective as a national government for the people. The National Congress had to ask states for financial support and was unable to enforce treaties made with other nations. To remedy this problem the Founding Fathers got together at the Philadelphia Convention to discuss a new plan for the government. The Founding Fathers decided not to revise the Articles of Confederation, but to create a completely new constitution. With so many great minds working on the same thing, it soon became apparent that there were opposing views on certain important issues. The issue causing the most controversy was whether or not a Bill of Rights should be included in the constitution. This issue was so hotly contested that the ratification of the constitution was delayed for a year. The two opposing views were encapsulated by two different parties, the Federalists and Anti-Federalists. Anti-Federalists craved a weak central government with more power left to individual states. Their biggest argument was for the addition of a Bill of Rights to the constitution that would secure the people’s rights. Federalists wanted a stronger central government. The Articles of Confederation was a failure because the states held

The Federalists wanted “a centralized federal system and the ratification of the Constitution … who supported a broad interpretation” (Tindall, Shi A16). The Anti-Federalists “opposed the Constitution as a limitation on individual and states’ rights” (Tindall, Shi A3). The Bill of Rights allows the United States to implement national laws, and whatever is not said is left for the states to determine, which allows a basic equality across the states but different interpretations within them. The Bill of Rights allowed a federal and state government resulting in a compromise.