The Bill of Rights, Its Origins and Historic Role Essay

Introduction

The original text of the Constitution did not contain a special article or section on civil rights and freedoms, although some of them included separate prescriptions. Namely, a number of important regulations can be found in the text of the Constitution; for example, Section 9 of Article I refers to the prohibition of the suspension of habeas corpus unless public security requires it in the event of an insurrection or invasion. Such negligence of civil rights and freedoms caused great dissatisfaction among democratically-oriented citizens and even jeopardized the ratification of the Constitution. This paper will argue that the Bill of Rights played a rather significant role in democracy and equality establishment based on clarifying rights and freedoms of citizens that are to be guaranteed by the Constitution.

Founding a New Nation: The Bill of Rights

Initially, the Bill of Rights was considered only as a law that protects citizens from the arbitrariness of the federal authorities. It went back to the British Magna Carta of 1215, which legislatively limited the power of the King.¹ During the first session of the Congress gathered to discuss the new Constitution, the politician Madison took the initiative to propose the Bill of Rights even though he believed that the Constitution itself might ensure liberty. In 1789, the first ten amendments convened on the basis of the Constitution were introduced at the suggestion of Madison, which by 1791 were ratified by the states and simultaneously came into force.² It seems critical to point out the fact that the amendments that make up the Bill of Rights are equivalent in definition to the legal status of an American citizen.

The review of the mentioned document shows that Locke’s ideas about natural human rights were interwoven with quite objective protection against specific abuses.³ It is noted that Congress should consider the needs of people. Therefore, while formulating the text of the document, the legislators proceeded from the idea of ​​natural rights and freedoms and the establishment of the limits of the state’s power in relation to a person. The ninth amendment established the principle of the inadmissibility of restricting the rights of citizens, which are not directly mentioned in the Constitution. The third amendment that regulates the order of soldiers in peacetime and wartime seems to be an anachronism in the modern era. The remaining seven amendments referred to political and personal rights and freedoms of a person.

The first amendment proclaims freedom of speech, press, and religion, focusing on the basic rights of citizens and political associations. It claims that “the people shall not be deprived or abridged of their right to speak, to write, or to publish their sentiments; and the freedom of the press, as one of the great bulwarks of liberty, shall be inviolable.”⁴ It is one of the essential amendments that provide fundamental rights to every person in the US, thus following democracy and equality. According to the above point, it was prohibited to legislate with regards to religion, assembly, speech, and the press. One may note that the identified amendment became a vital building block of American democracy.

The adoption of the Bill of Rights in terms of the Civil War may be regarded as a great victory for American democracy. At the same time, it is important to claim that this document, likewise the Constitution itself, does not say anything about socio-economic rights and freedoms. Therefore, the brief prescriptions contained in the Bill of Rights have received a detailed interpretation in numerous decisions of the Supreme Court as well as in hundreds of acts of Congress. However, the very process of ratification and the ultimate approval of the Bill was a significant step towards democracy.

This most important part of the Constitution proceeds from the recognition for every person of his or her natural and inalienable rights. One should emphasize that the deprivation of a person’s life, liberty, and the property is possible only through an independent Court, and the protection of rights is the primary duty of the state.⁵ The Bill of Rights became a confirmation of the US Basic Law and eliminated any doubts regarding fundamental human rights.

Analyzing the origins and content of the Bill of Rights, it seems essential to pay attention to the specific language and rules used by legislators. In particular, some parts of the document about the prohibition of excessive bail and brutal punishment apparently reflect English roots. This point may be traced back to the declaration issued by the House of Lords in 1316 and then in the English Bill of Rights.⁶

At the same time, other amendments such as the acceptance of religious freedom refer to the changes in American society, especially those that occurred after the Revolution. Unlike the English document, the American version is secular as it separates the state and the church. Only after the approval of ten amendments is it possible to consider the Constitution sufficiently complete, and the American Revolution finally consolidated in its political structures as it received a powerful constitutional and legal adjustment and support.

The US Constitution was altered several times, for example, to allow voting from the age of 18 or establish direct elections of senators. On the contrary, the Bill of Rights has not yet been changed. Some of its provisions are controversial today, such as the interpretation of the second amendment on the right to bear arms and the well-organized police, which are constantly under scrutiny. Nevertheless, the Bill of Rights remains the quintessence of the system of individual freedoms, the limitation of executive power, and the rule of law, which Americans call critical to shaping their worldviews. The freedom of expression now becomes a symbol of American democracy, when every person has the constitutional right to speak and be heard by others.

Conclusion

To conclude, it should be emphasized that in its original form, the US Constitution did not consolidate the rights and freedoms of citizens since they were contained in the constitutions of the states. In this regard, the paramount goal of the US Constitution was limited to the creation of a system of public authorities. The introduction of the Bill of Rights can be considered a fundamental step towards democracy and the provision of equal rights to every US citizen.

The first amendment serves as a vital point in determining and ensuring one’s freedom of speech, religion, and the press – the elements that are unalienable to everyone. Even though some of its aspects may seem to be contentious such as the second amendment, the Bill of Rights remains an essential part of the Constitution.

Bibliography

Cogan, Neil H. The Complete Bill of Rights: The drafts, Debates, Sources, and Origins. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.

Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty! An American History. 4th ed. New York: WW Norton & Company, 2013.

Fraser, Russell. A Machine that Would Go of Itself: The Constitution in American Culture. New York: Routledge, 2017.

Grant, Carl A., and Melissa Leigh Gibson. ““The Path of Social Justice”: A Human Rights History of Social Justice Education.” Equity & Excellence in Education 46, no. 1 (2013): 81-99.

Klug, Francesca. “A Magna Carta for All Humanity: Homing in on Human Rights.” Soundings 2, no. 60 (2015): 130-144.

Thornhill, Chris. “Natural Law, State Formation and the Foundations of Social Theory.” Journal of Classical Sociology 13, no. 2 (2013): 197-221.

Footnotes

1. Francesca Klug, “A Magna Carta for All Humanity: Homing in on Human Rights,” Soundings 2, no. 60 (2015): 135.
2. Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty! An American History, 4th ed. (New York: WW Norton & Company, 2013), 258.
3. Chris Thornhill, “Natural Law, State Formation and the Foundations of Social Theory,” Journal of Classical Sociology 13, no. 2 (2013): 209.
4. Neil H. Cogan, The complete Bill of Rights: The drafts, Debates, Sources, and Origins (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), 147.
5. Carl A. Grant and Melissa Leigh Gibson,”“The Path of Social Justice”: A Human Rights History of Social Justice Education,” Equity & Excellence in Education 46, no. 1 (2013): 82.
6. Russell Fraser, A Machine that Would Go of Itself: The Constitution in American Culture (New York: Routledge, 2017), 157.