Preview

The Influence Of Bill Of Rights On The Federal Government

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
488 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Influence Of Bill Of Rights On The Federal Government
The Bill of Rights lists our basic rights and place limits on the federal government. They include the freedoms of speech and religion, the right to bear arms, the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and an assurance that the powers not delegated to the federal government in the Constitution are reserved to the states and the people. Many of these provisions were based upon similar protections provided by state constitutions that limited the power of state and local government authorities. Written by James Madison in response to calls from several states for greater constitutional protection for individual liberties, the Bill of Rights lists specific prohibitions on governmental power. The Bill of Rights was a controversial idea when it was proposed in 1789 because a majority of the founding fathers had already entertained and rejected the idea of including a Bill of …show more content…
Our ever-growing federal government is intervening into more and more aspects of our lives, especially through bureaucratic regulations, and is reducing our personal freedoms in the process. Government at all levels is doing more and more things that were once left to private individuals and groups, and the federal government is doing more and more things that were once the province of state and local governments, where greater accountability to the public is often possible. The Bill of Rights grants Americans freedom that some countries would not even allow. For example, North Korea is a complete dictatorship with the citizens of the country not even be allowed to do some of the normal things we do today like; laughing, driving, watching television, or something as crazy as asking what year their leader Kim Jong-un’s birthday is. Just telling you about the silly laws in North Korea you have to have some scene of pride and accomplishment of what our great nation as molded

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Bill of Rights were created so that the government power would have limits. The Bill of Rights Institute says, “Federalists argued that the Constitution did not need a bill of rights, because the people and the states kept any powers not given to the federal government. Anti-Federalists held that a bill of rights was necessary to safeguard individual liberty.” Two examples of the Bill of Right freedoms are that if a person is accused of a crime they have the right to a fair trial. Also people shall never be enslaved in the US.…

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Separation Of Powers Dbq

    • 874 Words
    • 4 Pages

    At first, some of the first people in America didn’t want to have a federal government that had too much power. The Founding Fathers created the Constitution of the United States of America after the Articles of Confederation failed. There are numerous documents in the Constitution that limit the federal government in many ways. For example there is a system called Checks and Balances that gives certain powers to each branch. In the United States, there is something called the Separation of Powers which also limits the federal government. It keeps one branch of government from becoming too powerful against the other branches. Furthermore, the Bill of Rights also limits the federal government. Also known as the first ten additions or amendments to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights protect individual liberties. As you can…

    • 874 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The bill of rights is composed in the Ten Amendments. The bill of rights was made to help Americans live an equal way of life. Antifederalists insisted that the Bill of Rights was needed since the Constitution weakened the States. Antifederalists wanted written guarantees that would assure people of their freedom of speech, the press, and of religion. Federalists were in favor of the Constitution because they believed in a strong central government and opposed to strong state government.…

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When the Constitution of the United States was originally created, it did not contain a Bill of Rights. In the Constitutional Convention, the Federalists argued that the Bill of Rights was not necessary. Opposingly, the Anti-Federalists argued that the central government had too much power and that our Constitution needed a Bill of Rights that would explicitly state the rights of the citizens. In order to settle disputes between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists that claimed the government had an imbalance of power, the Bill of Rights was created. Containing the first ten Amendments, the Bill of Rights ultimately split up the powers and gave specific duties to the separate branches to create balance in power between the state and central…

    • 378 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    What is the purpose of the Bill of Rights? The purpose of it is to save the Anti-Federalists because from the beginning, they thought that the Constitution favored a central government too heavily. They did not agree that the balance of power provided for by the Constitution prevented one branch from becoming too powerful. They were scared that the Congress and the court system were too far removed from the people of the nation and that the voice of the people was not likely to be heard. There are other things to know about the purpose of Bill of Rights. Here are three.…

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Constitution separated the powers of government that would function by keeping each other in check and making sure that no one branch gets too powerful. This was significant because allowed a strong central government without the fear of one branch growing too powerful and becoming a tyrant. In addition, the Constitution included the Bill of Rights, which were composed of 10 amendments. The Bill included such rights as the freedom of speech, freedom to bear arms, freedom of religion, and etc. This is significant because it allows people their rights without relinquishing central government…

    • 1543 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    So they proposed the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments of the United States that list the individual rights of citizens. It was created to limit the government’s role on people’s civil liberties. Though many of the founding fathers opposed a Bill of Rights in fear of the federal government would have too much power.…

    • 603 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments of the Constitution. The amendments include freedom of speech, press, religion, peaceable assembly, and the right to petition the government; the right for people to keep and bear arms, and also to maintain a militia; protection from quartering troops; protection from unreasonable search and seizure; due process, self incrimination, double jeopardy and private property; trial by jury and other rights of the accused; civil trail by jury; prohibition of excessive bail, as well as cruel and unusual punishment; protection of rights not specifically stated in the Bill of Rights; powers of states and people. For Madison’s great contribution to the Constitution he was named the “Father” of the Constitution. To this day only seven-teen amendments have been added to the Constitution even though thousands have been proposed.…

    • 1061 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Over the last twenty-five years, federalism has transformed due to the increase in federal mandates on state and local governments. Federalism refers to a political system in which there are local units of government, as well as a national government, that can make final decisions with respect to at least some governmental activities, and whose existence is protected. When the Framers devised this political system their goal was to protect personal liberty and create a separation of powers. Over the years, federalism 's goal of decentralization evolved giving states more leeway. Mandates, however, have in a way, increased federal power, imposing requirements and/or conditions for obtaining federal grants. These mandates provided federal restrictions on states ' economic actions and have served the former purpose of protecting personal liberties because they usually concern civil rights and environmental protection. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, for example, shows how federalism has changed and how mandates have augmented the regulation of state and local governments ' actions.…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the United States, the Bill of Rights is the name by which the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution are known. They were introduced by James Madison to the First United States Congress in 1789 as a series of articles, and came into effect on December 15, 1791, when they had been ratified by three-fourths of the States.…

    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the midst of the eighteenth century, America was beginning to establish an identity for itself and a form of self government that would govern its own government and citizens alike in a systematic way. A system in which united the states of America into a unified state. For America was going through economic turmoil and power struggle after gaining independence from Great Britain after the American revolution. American citizens feared that if the government was given too much power, their own rights and liberty would be infringed upon. To solve this issue, Virginian George Mason met with states delegates on September 12, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. To proposed that the bill of rights should be added to the recently created Constitution,…

    • 815 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Overall, what I learned was that throughout history, whether it is American or history within other countries, the game never changes. We repeat incidents in history and though we might expect the outcome to differ, it rarely does. “The names of the players change but the game does not.” There are trends in history and almost every incident we face can be referred to similar happenings of the past. But the most predominant and reoccurring theme throughout the centuries, and possibly back to the beginning of human civilization and governing, is the role of federal government in the people’s lives. From Ancient Civilization, to Tories versus the Whigs, all the way up to controversy between republicans and democrats the same question has been asked. Do you want a big, intrusive government that decides what is best for you or a smaller government whose primary purpose is to protect you and provide a bit of order and structure so that we are not running about doing anything we please? It is important to recognize this theme. For the role of federal government will always impact our lives directly and decide the amount of freedom allowed to both the people and the government.…

    • 1974 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Bill of Rights has generally been regarded as an essential protection for the people from the undue oppressions of their government. The Bill of Rights originally only applied to the federal government, not state governments. The Bill of Rights were gradually made suitable to state governments through the process of incorporation. The “incorporation of the Bill of Rights” is the legal technique that has allowed the gradual application of the Bill of Rights to protect individuals from the state as well as the federal government. Generally speaking, the U.S. is devised under the principle of federalism, a system that provides equal responsibility through the balancing of power. Similarly, the…

    • 988 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Founding Fathers

    • 333 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Along with the Constitution, the founding fathers created the Bill of Rights, or the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. The first amendment that I listed in the Updated 10 Amendments is “Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and…

    • 333 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The bill of rights was important because it guaranteed rights for the people which made it easily excepted. the bill of rights started the amendments to the constitution which likely resulted in some of the other amendments getting added in. i cant really say it has a big impact on my life, because for a i can tell it doesnt. i mean most of the amendments of the bill of rights are not used seriously much today. the first amendment guarantees the freedoms of religion, assembly, petition, press, and speech, but there is no actual freedom there. whatever you say someone will take offence to it, you can still say it but you may have to face a consequence which takes that freedom away. the freedom of press is limited by other stories, financial issues, and companies not letting you publish it because of ideas they dont want to get into trouble for. the freedom of assembly and petition are restricted by our own personal schedules, permits to be places, and how people will treat you because of what you did there or why you were there. The freedom oof religion is unknown to me how it is restricted, i have a few ideas how it is but i am to lazy to think of a way to put them in here. what im trying to explain in this is that the importance of the bill of rights is freedom it always has been, the only differance is now the importance is the illusion of freedom, and that is important becauseof ow that makes us act and why we ct how we…

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays