Bill Of Rights Analysis

The United States of America has been created through the age of revolution and to express the freedom from the tyrannical control of the British Empire. The country has claimed independence and began an experimental journey two-hundred forty years ago and still running today as the oldest running democracy up to date as its country revolves around the power and importance of every person’s inalienable rights and how him or her has the complete disposal and freedom to express the abilities in which no one has the ability to take his or her rights away. The conflict the Thirteen Colonies who had decide to rebel against the British has it lead with a despotic control over the colonists with extreme control and no acknowledgement of the Colonists

place as humans and a people who require a better treatment. During the buildup of creating a strong democratic union, they have established various documents that upholds the principles of the United States and the major characteristics of this new country to carry on every man’s or woman’s individual rights, to break away from old-fashioned monarchal rule and have an able and ever-lasting creed that all of the inhabitants can follow.

The documents that can help achieve the perseverance of inalienable rights to all of her children (the citizens), fairness and equality being applied to all of the citizens and create a stable agreement to everyone are The Declaration of Independence, The United States Constitution and the Petition to the Massachusetts General Assembly. How each document would state the strengths and tackles the weaknesses of liberty of the country.
The document that helped establish the United States of America as a free and independent country that establish a secession from Great Britain, the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson has been able to make this infamous document to define the faults the monarchal rule the British attempted to enforce upon the thirteen colonies and its inhabitants. Within the passage of the document, Jefferson has capitalized the words “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness; that to secure these rights, Governments...Safety and Happiness” (9-15). This use of diction and syntax helped establish the priority that the citizens of the government should be able to express and exercise their unalienable rights without any limitations or barriers from them doing so; also how the government must see this as a valued importance to maintain among the people. Within the passage of lines 8-17, it becomes an exponentially long sentence with commas and semicolons to create a “piling on” effect to state these different clauses but having a common detail/interest. Plus, to give justifications of their own government towards the British; a rule without a singular ruler with full lead. Jefferson also added his use of syntax and diction to make the document have fluidity, evolutionary and posterity to help declare a divorce between two societies with reasons and understandings. That any group facing difficulties with a ruling country and have reasonable clauses to disconnect their connections have the absolute opportunity to secede from the abusive ruler. The Preamble serves the major reason why the document is created, it states “...it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume...the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation” (1-7). These lines can be interpreted by anyone calling for independence, that they can separate on their own terms, with a sense of respect on each other and claim causes to instigate independence. For example, Vietnam used quotes from the Declaration of Independence as it can be used to their own independence against French Occupation. They used the quote “We hold these truths to be self-evident:-That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…” (8-10). To claim, also towards the time of the colonists that their rights are inherited from their “Creator”, although if the rule the people are subjected into had their unalienable rights manipulated, then they have full judgement to end and establish a government to create better or complete protection of the unalienable rights. Thomas Jefferson has written the Declaration of Independence to be a fluid and universal document that helps support the claim of the unalienable rights the people have with the government’s responsibility to uphold the citizen’s rights and the people’s right judgement to separate bonds from a despotic ruler with the use of syntax, diction, wording and punctuation.
The U.S.

Constitution, written by the “Framers of the Constitution”, was written to establish three branches of the federal government for the country to establish responsibilities and limitations without overpower. It also contains the Bill of Rights and articles which went into effect as supreme law. There are multiple important details the writers have implemented within the Preamble and the Bill of Rights to directly communicate the country as a whole and the application to the citizens. Like the Declaration of Independence, the Preamble of the document carries fluidity since this can be applied to any reader no matter the period of time or group. Such that the reader is involved as he or she reads it and create the feeling that he or she isn’t excluded. For example, the Preamble states “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America” (1-7). With the Statement, “We The People”, it contains the endless possibilities of representation upon the diversity of people, which can apply to all genders, ages, groups, races, all sexaulities and etcetera. The Bill of Rights is a list of amendments or rights that the citizens are connect to and rules which makes everyone’s stance equal and true. In the

beginning of the Bill of Rights, it states “...at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution” (11-16). This explains how it shows a desire for the government to be created for the people’s general welfare of protecting their rights, but also restricts the government of extreme power for people to have a say in the government; creation of confident feeling that the rights of the people will not be violated and ensure security, trust and benefits. With more equal power distribution between the branches and groups of the government, the third paragraph claims “Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all, or any of which Articles, when ratified by three fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the said Constitution…” (17-23). To illustrate equal distribution of power, the lines reinstate a separation of powers based on the creation and passing of new laws; the Senate and House of Representatives can request for the passing of new amendments but it must be approved by Congress through valid intent and purpose. Also passing these articles or laws require the people for public support to add difficulty to pass new laws and to remove an amendment would require another amendment to counteract and to overrule. The U.S. Constitution was respectively made for the country to act as supreme laws to create a sense of establishment of responsibility of the branches of government to have equal power and decision making, plus to make the people involved in the decisions of the country with the addition to continue the protection and listing of the rights they can practice such as the right to free-speech and protection of privacy of the individual.
Prince Hall, a former African Slave and recognized as an advocate for African Americans, wrote the Petition to the Massachusetts General Assembly to proclaim how the United States are committing the same mistake the British did when they had occupation in the thirteen colonies by still practicing slavery towards the African Americans in the plantations or house servitude. He quoted in his petition, “In violation of Laws of Nature and of Nations and in defiance of all the tender feelings of humanity, and like them condemned to slavery for life among a people professing the mild religion...to reduce them to a state of bondage and subjugation...to be informed that a life of slavery like that...deprived of every social privilege and of every thing requisite to render life tolerable, is far worse than nonexistence” (10-19). Between his view and the colonists who believe that they are achieving liberty away from the British, they are still hypocritical if they fought a despotic life only for them to still be tyrannical to the African Americans. Hall claims the practice of slavery in America is deemed unamerican, unchristian and inhuman. Furthermore, he believes that to be an American, they follow the great values of liberty and equality among the people and country. How can Americans carry those characteristics in the democratic country if they have slaves bent to their every whim, it's identified to hypocritical to what America was fought for against the British, to break away from tyrannical rule and being “treated as slaves” according to the colonists. Secondly, the people in the Massachusetts followed Christian beliefs, even natural rights comes from Christian beliefs and applies to every fellow human being (Black, White, etc.). Also the important values comes from the Enlightenment with sources of Humanism, with the belief to respect of human beings and value the opportunity that humans can be naturally good; not entirely evil monsters. Slavery is sacrilegious as it denies natural rights towards the African Americans, the rights they received from their creator or in this case God. Slavery is inhuman because Slavery dehumanizes African slaves and become classified as less than human when compared to a Caucasian-American. Within Hall’s quote he used a sarcastic jab to the General Assembly when mentioning “mild religion of Jesus” because the majority or even all of the assembly are Christians but they believe in it mildly because they commit the sacrilegious practice of slavery. Overall, Prince Hall may have stated and quoted the inconsistency of Liberty and Equality of all men in the United States, he uses these problems to create an emotional feeling to impel the General Assembly of Massachusetts to put an end towards slavery and to begin building bridges rather than barriers between the free white americans and enslaved black americans. To call for a smooth transition to free and assist the enslaved Africans to live as freed people in the land that represents Liberty, Democracy and Equality.
The Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Petition to the Massachusetts General Assembly show the mechanisms, strengths and limitations that the United States has when establishing a perfect union and democracy for the people and government through the uses of arguments, establishments, rules, amendments, diction, syntax and punctuation. The Declaration of Independence help establish why the British Empire controlling the Thirteen Colonies are unfit to help the people of the United States due to their unalienable rights being manipulated. So the people have gained the full decision to overthrow the current government and create a new government which protects the general well being of the people and their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The U.S. Constitution was contains the rights of what the people can express within the country as role of being a U.S. Citizen and how the government will protect their rights. How the government will not be able to have full power to prevent misconduct of control and create a separation of powers to have regulation upon the responsibilities and abilities the branches have to sustain a perfect union. The Petition to the Massachusetts General Assembly reinstates the true meaning of America, a place that contains liberty and equality values that can be directed to anyone no matter the gender, sexuality, group and even race. How slavery is a barrier for Americans as its inhuman, unchristian and unamerican but stopping it and building bridges between the free citizens and enslaved blacks can create the distribution of unalienable rights to all people and break the hypocrisy from where the Americans revolted for. To have freedom and the soul’s right to breath without any despotic oppression.