Back when the Constitution was written, some people did not trust the new federal government the framers created. Those who felt this way, the so-called Anti-federalists, were especially concerned that the new government would tyrannize the people or the state governments. Here is how Patrick Henry put it:
“Show me that age and country where the rights and liberties of the people were placed on the sole chance of their rulers being good men without a consequent loss of liberty! I say that the loss of that dearest privilege has ever followed, with absolute certainty, every such mad attempt.”
Several state delegations refused to ratify the Constitution until amendments were promised to protect key rights from infringement by the national government. Thus, after the ratification of the Constitution in 1788 and the installation of the new government in 1789, twelve amendments were proposed by Congress, of which ten (2-12) were ratified by three-fourths the states on December 15, 1791. These ten are known as The Bill of Rights.
Why do rights matter? If our republic is to be sustained, then all citizens and political leaders need to trust that our system of government will always honor their rights to participate in government and protect their liberty – regardless of who they are, how they worship, what they look like, or what they believe. These guarantees are at the core of the distinction between republics like ours and republics like Venezuela and Russia. (See our short civics course America: Republic or Democracy.)
The Bill of Rights contains a number of rights backed by prohibitions against government behavior that would infringe on those rights. The First Amendment says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” The Second Amendment says “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” The Third Amendment says, “No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.” Rules for the due process of law are included in amendments Four through Eight. The Ninth Amendment says, “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”
State governments also have rights. Several clauses in the Constitution and its amendments refer to states’ rights. Among these is the Tenth Amendment, which states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Interestingly, several states include rights in their constitutions that go beyond those found in the Bill of Rights.
The Bill of Rights was not the last word on rights. Many subsequent amendments followed. Several amendments extended rights to formerly enslaved people of color and their descendants and to women. Others deepened the implementation of many rights. Most notably, the Supreme Court interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment to apply the Bill of Rights to each of the state governments.
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First of all, today’s anti Federalists call themselves Federalists or at least it’s what they call their organization. Second of all, when the 10th amendment was being written, the word “expressly” was offered up twice and defeated twice by solid margins. The writers (the first congress) thought it would be too restrictive of their great and radical experiment in self government. However, the courts as well as today’s anti federalists who call themselves federalists interpret the 10th amendment as if it DOES have the word expressly there. This is a big difference and this is very dangerous to today’s America because we simply cannot live under a vestigial government that doesn’t serve the people and only serves the wealthy and powerful.
Hi Charlie, really sorry to read you think our system of government serves only the rich and powerful. There’s plenty of evidence that it does serve those interests, but just as much evidence it also serves the middle class and even the poor. No doubt it could do better – perhaps you could play a role in that effort! See our pieces on the role of the citizen at the end of our series on the presidency and on Congress.