Essay On Bill Of Rights

The text of the Constitution of the United States, which was drafted by the Convention, and sent by the Congress to the states for ratification, consisted of seven articles. According to Library of Congress these articles describe: 1) Legislative Department; 2) Executive Department; 3) Judicial Department; 4) States' Relations; 5) Mode of Amendment; 6) Prior Debts, National Supremacy Clause, and Oaths of Office; 7)  Ratification process, (“Constitution Annotated”). As we can observe, no article mention any personal freedoms or rights for the people. The absence in the text of the US Constitution articles guaranteeing civil rights, in the early years of the republic, has become one of the main themes of political disputes. The president, the government and the Congress were expected to arrange the promised legal document that would guarantee citizens their rights and freedoms. During four years after the adoption of the Constitution, numerous states’ proposals have flocked into the Congress. The most important of the proposed amendments were reflected in James Madison prepared supplements containing guarantees of the rights of religious freedom, speech and press, freedom of assembly, the right to keep and bear arms for security of the person and the home, of a fair administration of justice and the introduction of jury trials. These articles have made the first ten amendments to the US Constitution, approved by the Congress on September 25, 1791. After the ratification of them by all states, these amendments became part of the Constitution of the United States under the unofficial name of the Bill of Rights (“The Bill of Rights: Its History and Significance”). Thus, there is no difference in legal force between the first seven articles of the US Constitution and the first ten amendments – the Bill of Rights.

References

Constitution Annotated (n.d.). Library of Congress. Retrieved from:
https://www.congress.gov/constitution-annotated/
The Bill of Rights: Its History and Significance (n.d.). School of Law, University of
Missouri-Kansas City. Retrieved from: http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/Ftrials/conlaw/billofrightsintro.html