Okla-homey
9/25/2006, 06:08 AM
Sept. 25, 1789 : Bill of Rights passes Congress
The newly elected Congress had originally drafted a list of rights and liberties on Christmas Day in 1788. On this day, 217 years ago, the first Congress of the United States approves 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and sends them to the states for ratification. The amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were drafted to protect the basic rights of U.S. citizens.
Influenced by the English Bill of Rights passed a hundred years earlier in 1689, the Bill of Rights was also drawn from Virginia's Declaration of Rights, drafted by George Mason in 1776.
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/5937/xxxxxxxmason01bby3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
George Mason...Big Daddy of our Bill of Rights
Mason, a native Virginian, was a lifelong champion of individual liberties, and in 1787 he attended the Constitutional Convention and criticized the final document for lacking constitutional protection of basic political rights.
In the ratification process that followed, Mason and other Anti-Federalist critics agreed to approve the Constitution in exchange for the assurance that amendments would immediately be adopted.
Mason and other Anti-Federalist critics of the Constitution were afraid that a too-strong federal government would become just another sort of the monarchical regime from which they had recently been freed. They believed that the Constitution gave too much power to the federal government by outlining its rights but failing to delineate the rights of the individuals living under it.
Leading Federalists, Alex Hamilton, John Jay and the guy who is generally considered the Father of the Constitution and a Federalist, Mr James Madison, compromised and agreed to go with it if it ensured the Constitution would be ratified the states and thus become the "Supreme Law of the Land." The promise of a Bill of Rights to do just that helped to assuage the Anti-Federalists’ concerns and brought them onboard in support of the constitution.
Of the two amendments in the original Bill of Rights not ratified, the first concerned the population system of representation, while the second prohibited laws varying the payment of congressional members from taking effect until an election intervened. The first of these two amendments was never ratified, while the second was finally ratified more than 200 years later, in 1992.
You know folks, the Bill of Rights is just about the coolest thing about America. See, there had been declarations of rights before, but never before in history had a nation decided to publish a universal list of rights guarenteed to all citizens. How cool is that? That is still absolutely amazing.
Think of it, a government which chose to promise the people that there were some things the government simply could not do to the citizenry. No government in history had ever before deliberately limited its own powers without being forcibly compelled to do so.
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/7908/billaamadisonsubje5xq.jpg
James Madison, the "Father of the United States Constitution"
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/9817/billunitedstates5b15d6yv.jpg
1. The government will not choose an "official" state religion and people can worship however they choose. People also have freedom of speech and the right to peaceable assembly. Perhaps interestingly, this amendment only applied to the federal government until the passage of the 14th Amendment in 1868 which made most of the Bill of Rights applicable to state laws as well.
2. Right to keep and bear arms, especially because its important for citizens to be familiar with guns in case citizens are needed for military service. People still argue about what this amendment really means, but one thing's for sure, constitutional scholars generally agree this amendment was not incorporated by the 14th amendment and thus states are pretty well free to regulate guns however they choose -- hence the patchwork quilt of state gun laws all over the country
3. You can't be compelled to allow soldiers to live in your house during peacetime. In wartime, not so much.
4. Freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. IOW, the cops generally need to obtain a warrant from a judge to rifle through your stuff unless you consent.
5. Right to a grand jury for capital crimes and due process. Protection from double jeopardy, self-incrimination and public confiscation of private property without “just compensation.” That "no self-incrimination" thingy really only applies in criminal cases, in civil cases, you often technically have to cop to things even if it wrecks your case. Also, you can be tried in state AND federal criminal court on the same facts because that's not considered double jeopardy.
6. Right to “speedy and public” trial by jury and a competent defense. Generally interpreted as applying mostly to criminal cases. You have no right to a lawyer if someone sues you
7. Right to trial by jury for civil cases when the amount in dispute is more than $20. But you prolly won't get into federal court unless the amount in controversy is much higher -- In United States federal courts, the term currently only applies to cases brought under "diversity" jurisdiction, meaning that the court is only able to hear the case because it is between citizens of different states. In such cases, the U.S. Congress has decreed in Title 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a) that the court may only hear such suits where "the matter in controversy [is equal to or greater] than the sum or value of $75,000."
8. Protection against “excessive” bail or fines and “cruel and unusual” punishments. For the record, execution by hanging or shooting was not considered "cruel or unusual" in 1789, therefore, as a "strict constructionist," I favor a return to these forms of execution :D
9. Rights not enumerated are “retained by the people.” This amendment has been the stuff of much pontificating and implication as well.
10. Rights not given to the federal government or prohibited the state governments by the Constitution, “are reserved to the States... or to the people.” Very important to entice the less populous states who were concerned about state sovereignty in the face of federal gubmint -- this one was also pretty important in enticing the slave states onboard.
http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/839/insane7zo0xx.jpg
The newly elected Congress had originally drafted a list of rights and liberties on Christmas Day in 1788. On this day, 217 years ago, the first Congress of the United States approves 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and sends them to the states for ratification. The amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were drafted to protect the basic rights of U.S. citizens.
Influenced by the English Bill of Rights passed a hundred years earlier in 1689, the Bill of Rights was also drawn from Virginia's Declaration of Rights, drafted by George Mason in 1776.
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/5937/xxxxxxxmason01bby3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
George Mason...Big Daddy of our Bill of Rights
Mason, a native Virginian, was a lifelong champion of individual liberties, and in 1787 he attended the Constitutional Convention and criticized the final document for lacking constitutional protection of basic political rights.
In the ratification process that followed, Mason and other Anti-Federalist critics agreed to approve the Constitution in exchange for the assurance that amendments would immediately be adopted.
Mason and other Anti-Federalist critics of the Constitution were afraid that a too-strong federal government would become just another sort of the monarchical regime from which they had recently been freed. They believed that the Constitution gave too much power to the federal government by outlining its rights but failing to delineate the rights of the individuals living under it.
Leading Federalists, Alex Hamilton, John Jay and the guy who is generally considered the Father of the Constitution and a Federalist, Mr James Madison, compromised and agreed to go with it if it ensured the Constitution would be ratified the states and thus become the "Supreme Law of the Land." The promise of a Bill of Rights to do just that helped to assuage the Anti-Federalists’ concerns and brought them onboard in support of the constitution.
Of the two amendments in the original Bill of Rights not ratified, the first concerned the population system of representation, while the second prohibited laws varying the payment of congressional members from taking effect until an election intervened. The first of these two amendments was never ratified, while the second was finally ratified more than 200 years later, in 1992.
You know folks, the Bill of Rights is just about the coolest thing about America. See, there had been declarations of rights before, but never before in history had a nation decided to publish a universal list of rights guarenteed to all citizens. How cool is that? That is still absolutely amazing.
Think of it, a government which chose to promise the people that there were some things the government simply could not do to the citizenry. No government in history had ever before deliberately limited its own powers without being forcibly compelled to do so.
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/7908/billaamadisonsubje5xq.jpg
James Madison, the "Father of the United States Constitution"
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/9817/billunitedstates5b15d6yv.jpg
1. The government will not choose an "official" state religion and people can worship however they choose. People also have freedom of speech and the right to peaceable assembly. Perhaps interestingly, this amendment only applied to the federal government until the passage of the 14th Amendment in 1868 which made most of the Bill of Rights applicable to state laws as well.
2. Right to keep and bear arms, especially because its important for citizens to be familiar with guns in case citizens are needed for military service. People still argue about what this amendment really means, but one thing's for sure, constitutional scholars generally agree this amendment was not incorporated by the 14th amendment and thus states are pretty well free to regulate guns however they choose -- hence the patchwork quilt of state gun laws all over the country
3. You can't be compelled to allow soldiers to live in your house during peacetime. In wartime, not so much.
4. Freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. IOW, the cops generally need to obtain a warrant from a judge to rifle through your stuff unless you consent.
5. Right to a grand jury for capital crimes and due process. Protection from double jeopardy, self-incrimination and public confiscation of private property without “just compensation.” That "no self-incrimination" thingy really only applies in criminal cases, in civil cases, you often technically have to cop to things even if it wrecks your case. Also, you can be tried in state AND federal criminal court on the same facts because that's not considered double jeopardy.
6. Right to “speedy and public” trial by jury and a competent defense. Generally interpreted as applying mostly to criminal cases. You have no right to a lawyer if someone sues you
7. Right to trial by jury for civil cases when the amount in dispute is more than $20. But you prolly won't get into federal court unless the amount in controversy is much higher -- In United States federal courts, the term currently only applies to cases brought under "diversity" jurisdiction, meaning that the court is only able to hear the case because it is between citizens of different states. In such cases, the U.S. Congress has decreed in Title 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a) that the court may only hear such suits where "the matter in controversy [is equal to or greater] than the sum or value of $75,000."
8. Protection against “excessive” bail or fines and “cruel and unusual” punishments. For the record, execution by hanging or shooting was not considered "cruel or unusual" in 1789, therefore, as a "strict constructionist," I favor a return to these forms of execution :D
9. Rights not enumerated are “retained by the people.” This amendment has been the stuff of much pontificating and implication as well.
10. Rights not given to the federal government or prohibited the state governments by the Constitution, “are reserved to the States... or to the people.” Very important to entice the less populous states who were concerned about state sovereignty in the face of federal gubmint -- this one was also pretty important in enticing the slave states onboard.
http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/839/insane7zo0xx.jpg