Since the creating of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the federal government has grown in its influence over states by several Supreme Court decisions. The Constitution was established to create a limited role of the federal government over the states. The Bill of Rights was included in the Constitution to protect individual rights from an overreaching federal government. It was designed to be a malleable document that has been amended twenty-seven times. At the time of its inception, the Constitution was designed for minimal interference by the federal government for private citizens.
He thought that the government would be given too much power. His thoughts on the injustices in the Constitution greatly influenced the making of the Bill of Rights. At the time, Federalists argued that the Constitution didn’t need a bill of rights, due to the fact that the people and states kept any powers not given to the federal government, but Anti-Federalists said that a bill of rights was necessary to safeguard individual liberty. So when the Bill of Rights was made it listed prohibitions on governmental power and the rights that were granted to people. When the Bill of Rights was adopted into the Constitution it was became the fundamental rights of all citizens in 1791.
A bill of rights is necessary to hold up the constitution and the people's rights as it will be used in future generations. Yates then goes on to explain, “It's not true, that a bill of rights is less necessary in the federal Constitution than in the State constitutions...being the most recent will replace every other agreement that went before it. Since it's a plan of government ratified by the people, it will be superior to all other governments that went before it. “ Being more recent than any other agreement, the federal constitution will replace all other agreements in use before it, making it even more important to establish a bill of rights. It is important to design a bill of rights in our current constitution, seeing as it will replace
The main debate was about individual rights. Originally, the Constitution lacked a bill of rights. Anti-federalists insisted that a bill of rights be added to the Constitution to expressly grant freedoms to the country. On the other hand, federalist James Madison believed the Constitution was enough, and adding a bill of rights was unnecessary. As southern states did with slavery, antifederalists refused to ratify the Constitution without a bill of rights.
The Bill of Rights was another topic the Federalists discussed. In a political system where government authority is derived from the people, adding the Bill of Rights “might afford the pretext for the government to claim power if it doesn’t have on the ground. ” It would provide protection against powers that have not been granted. In addition, Federalists argued the liberties listed in the Bill of Rights were included in the guarantee of habeas corpus, and prohibition of ex post facto laws. To adopt these provisions, states ratified the
It took the convincing of the Anti-Federalists to explain how the Constitution gave too much power to the central government and did not state the rights and freedoms of the people, therefore lacking a Bill of Rights. The Federalists agreed to a Bill of Rights, and later the Constitution was ratified with nine out of thirteen votes on June 21 of 1788. Soon after the Constitution was ratified, the separation of powers was understood in the United States government. The separation of powers separated each branch of government.
The Antifedera records stressed that a solid national government would manhandle their rights similarly that the British government had. To relieve their feelings of dread, the Federalists consented to make the Bill of Rights. These alterations to the Constitution explained what rights the general population had that the national government couldn't meddle with. For instance, it said that the national governmer couldn't encroach on individuals' rights to the right to speak freely or religion. The Bill of Rights likewise said that any rights not given to Congress or taken from the states had a place with the states.
They believed it was essential that individual rights were explicitly stated so that citizens were informed and could defend their own liberty (Cornell, 2012). The Federalists initially believed that a Bill of Rights was not necessary, as the states retained any rights and powers not explicitly granted to the federal government. Seeking to get the Constitution ratified, the Federalists agreed to write a Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights Institute, a non-profit foundation that aims to educate students, explains: The Bill of Rights is a list of limits on government power. For example, what the Founders saw as the natural right of individuals to speak and worship freely was protected by the First Amendment’s prohibitions on Congress from making laws establishing a religion or abridging freedom of speech.
The Federalists wanted a strong central government. The Anti- Federalists claims Constitution gives the central government too much power and, and they worried about the new constitution will not give them any rights. That the new system threatened freedom; Also, threatened the sovereignty of the states and personal liberties; failed to protect individual rights. Besides, some of famous peoples such as " Patrick Henry" and artists have came out against the Constitution. Although the anti-Federalists were unsuccessful in stopping the passage of the Constitution, their efforts have been responsible for the creation and implementation of the Bill of
The Federalists believe that there is no need for a Bill of Rights to be written in the Constitution. Unalienable rights, Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, and all rights and responsibilities were already spelled out in detail in the Constitution. By creating a Bill of Rights, it would put too much power in the hands of the states; which would just create another confederacy type of government with little power to act. If each state had its own government, they would be very weak and they would probably be eliminated within a year.
The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. It was created to protect certain rights that were not obviously granted and protected in the Constitution. It does this extremely well. Philosopher John Locke spoke about how the people feared a government that was too powerful, they did not want a tyranny. They had just escaped the rule of King George and the English monarchy and they wanted a system of government with limited power.
In the Bill Of Rights, there our 10 different Amendments. The different Amendments prove the the Anti-federalists feared the strong central government, and desired a limited government, and had protections of basic freedoms. The Bill Of Rights show that they feared a strong central government because Amendment 9 was included into the Bill Of Rights. Anti-federalists feared a strong central government because Amendment 9 talks about how no ones right will be taken away.
The existing state constitutions have Bills of Rights in place in order to protect the rights of the people and this faction believes one is required on a national scale as well. An additional quote from Lee reads, “All wise and prudent people, in forming constitutions, have drawn the line, and carefully described the powers parted with and the powers reserved.” The anti-federalist belief behind the Bill of Rights is to protect against future tyranny by clarifying what powers the government does and does not
The Anti- Federalists claimed the Constitution gave the central government an excessive amount of power, and while not a Bill of Rights the folks would be in danger of oppression. Both Hamilton and Madison argued that the Constitution did not want a Bill of Rights, that it might produce a "parchment barrier" that restricted the rights of the folks, as critical protective
Hence Federalists came up with the Bill of Rights as a way to get the Constitution ratified and for people to really see a needed change. The Bill Of Rights which lists specific prohibitions on governmental power, lead the Anti-Federalists to be less fearful of the new Constitution . This guaranteed that the people would still remain to have rights, but the strong central government that the country needed would have to be approved. The 1804 Map of the nation shows that even after the ratification of the United States Constitution there still continued to be “commotion” and dispute in the country.(Document 8) George Washington stated that the people should have a say in the nation and government and everything should not be left to the government to decide.(Document 3) Although George Washington was a Federalist many believed he showed a point of view that seemed to be Anti-Federalists. Many believed that The Bill of Rights needed to be changed and modified and a new document’s time to come into place.