Does the constitution desperately need a Bill of Rights? While some may argue that the way the constitution was written is perfect as it is, it is necessary to include a Bill of Rights. It is self-evident due to the fact that we as a country need to ensure our rights and ensure the security and prosperity of the country. As an Anti- Federalist, we believe that the constitution can be revised again and can include a Bill of Rights to make sure our nation stays safe while we maintain our freedom. As a human being, you are born with certain unalienable rights that cannot be taken away such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. As Brutus states, it would not be reasonable to allow the government to denounce the rights that we have fought so hard to obtain. During the revolutionary war, countless of people sacrificed their lives to obtain the rights that are essential to this country. If we do allow the newly formed government of this country to decide what rights we have, it is possible that the government could abuse their power while ripping our rights away from the people. As proven by Brutus, a Bill Of Rights …show more content…
The government is supposed to have the power to enforce the law and to secure the safety of human nature. In order to not abuse their power as a government, they must work for the people and by the people to enforce their rights by including the Bill of Rights in the Constitution. As previously stated, human beings have certain unalienable rights but humans without a strong government and in the state of nature tend to revert to very dangerous ways of living. Therefore, the government needs to uphold the natural rights while simultaneously maintaining control. It is a very delicate balance but it is possible with the help of the addition of the Bill of
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.
We often wonder about the importance of government. Is it necessary? Does it really benefit society? The answer is yes. Many countries have diverse forms of government such as totalitarian, monarchy, theocracy, and much more. The United States of America specifically runs a democratic type of government. A democratic government gives power to the people. Citizens over the age of eighteen are allowed to elect leaders based on their individual opinions through voting rights. The main purpose of the American government is, to protect people’s inalienable rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness as our Founding Fathers intended.
The United States Bill of Rights came into being as a result of a promise made by the Fathers of Confederation to the states during the struggle for ratification of the Constitution in 1787-88. A great number of the states made as a condition for their ratification, the addition of amendments, which would guarantee citizens protection of their rights against the central government. Thus, we have a rather interesting situation in which the entrenchment of a bill of rights in the American Constitution was done by the virtual demand of the states, they themselves fearing a central government which was not legally constrained and restricted as far as its powers were concerned.
After the American Revolution, America had earned it’s freedom from Britain. In order to govern this new country the Articles of Confederation was created. This document was flawed by the colonists fear of putting too much power into a central government. Knowing the document needed to be fixed a constitutional convention was called. The document created at this convention has been our constitution ever since. But even the Constitution was meet with criticism. One major concern when writing the constitution was how to protect the citizens rights. The Constitution did this through the preamble, the legislative process, the limit of presidential terms, the judicial branch, and the bill of rights.
We can only guess who different the United States would be now. If there was no bill of rights, it is possible that the freedoms that we see today in the ammendants would be limited or even not exist if the government felt threaten. The government would possibly expand its power and “for the greater good of the american people” would limit our rights. All we have to see how that would work out, is look countries who have strong national government, and see how they taken their peoples freedom ( india, Venezuela, mexico, Pakistan). Countries like these shows us why the push for the bill of rights was so impoartant and how it impacts are lives on a daily basis. The Anti federalist assisted in securing our liberities, by limiting government intervation in the state problems as well as our daily
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.”
The Bill of Rights is a very important document for American citizens. The Bill of Rights is the beginning part of the American Constitution, which is made up of the first ten amendments which state our basic rights as United States’ citizens. It ensures us of our freedoms that cannot be taken away from us. However, I do believe that there is a certain amendment out of the ten that should be revised; this would be the Eighth Amendment. The Eighth Amendment reads “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.”
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 the years after the American Revolution, the colonies were faced with a second task: building a new government to establish liberty for future generations. Not everyone agreed on the best way to do that. A Constitutional Convention was called to reform the government, and the leaders gathered there formed the document we know as the US Constitution. Patrick Henry was very worried by the new powers granted in the Constitution. He feared that a paper document would not be able to preserve liberty from potential tyrants. He was especially insistent on the inclusion of a bill of rights. “The rights of conscience, trial by jury, liberty of the press, all your immunities and franchises, all pretensions to human rights and privileges, are rendered insecure, if not lost, by this change… is this same relinquishment of rights worthy of freemen?” Thanks to Patrick Henry, America got its bill of rights. Without him, that great document ensuring liberty for future generations might never have been written. Patrick Henry has been proved right. The Bill of Rights has served as an indispensable support of American liberty, serving as a check on all who would abuse their power. Every time we read an uncensored newspaper, worship as we please, or voice our opinions in the public square, we are enjoying the legacy of freedom Patrick Henry
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.
The Bill of Rights derives from the Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights, the colonial struggle against king and Parliament, and a gradually broadening concept of equality among the American people. The bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse. The absence of a "bill of rights" turned out to be an obstacle to the Constitution's ratification by the states. It would take four more years of intense debate before the new government's form would be resolved. The Federalists opposed including a bill of rights on the ground that it was unnecessary. In the end, popular sentiment was decisive. Recently freed from the despotic English monarchy, the American people wanted strong guarantees that the new government would not trample upon their newly won freedoms of speech, press and religion, nor upon their right to be free from warrant less searches and seizures. So, the Constitution's framers heeded Thomas Jefferson who argued: "A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference." The American Bill of Rights, inspired by Jefferson and drafted by James Madison, was adopted, and in 1791 the Constitution's first ten amendments became the law of the land. Early American mistrust of government power came from the colonial experience itself. Most historians believe that the pivotal event was the Stamp Act, passed by the English Parliament in 1765. Taxes were imposed on every legal and business document.
The First Amendment is what we chose because it covers good areas (topics) that are occurring in the world on a daily basis. Many people like the items that The First Amendment covers, and some people don't like them. Either way there are many other amendments that have been ratified by the two-thirds of the House and Senate. There are ten amendments in the constitution, but there are 17 other amendments that aren't in the constitution. Therefore, in total there are 27 amendments.
The Bill of Rights was created because the states believed that the federal government would have too much power and they wanted to have more individual rights. Around this time the colonies had just been under the British rule, which oppressed the people and give them very limited freedoms. The states or the colonies were kind of afraid that this would happen all over again within this new government forming in the form of the Constitution. Most of the state at this time believed that the Constitution alone was enough but others felt that they needed more assurances. In the end, the federal government complied with these states and gave them the Bill of Rights.
According to Thomas Jefferson, all men are created equal with certain unalienable rights. Unalienable rights are rights given to the people by their Creator rather than by government. These rights are inseparable from us and can’t be altered, denied, nullified or taken away by any government, except in extremely rare circumstances in which the government can take action against a particular right as long as it is in favor of the people’s safety. The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America mentions three examples of unalienable rights: “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. I believe these rights, since they are acquired by every human being from the day they are conceived, should always be respected, but being realistic, most of the time, the government intervenes and either diminishes or
Now the Bill of Rights protects ten amendments and they are freedom of speech, press and religion. Next is the right to keep and bear arms, then protection from quartering of troops, then the freedom of petition and prohibits unreasonable search and seizure. Next is due process, double jeopardy, self-incrimination, eminent domain, then it is to have the right to have a speedy trial by jury, next is a civil trial by jury. Now the last ones are prohibition of excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment, protection of rights not specifically enumerated in the Bill of Rights. and finally power to states and people.