Explaining The Bill of Rights
Essentially, The Bill of Rights are the really a continuation of what the founders of America wanted to have reflected in the Constitution. Several States and leaders expressed reservations about the new Constitution because it did not guarantee individual liberties. The Bill of Rights was the remedy for that discrepancy. For a copy of the text of the Amendments, check out billofrights.com. The purpose of this article is not to go over the text, but to discuss their meaning, both at the time they were written and now. I hope that the reader who is unfamiliar with them will read the full text. And the job was not finished with the Bill Of Rights. It would be some time before slavery was ended in America, or women were granted the right to vote, for example. And this goes to the heart of a debate that has simmered for years and now threatens to flare into a raging fire. Is the Constitution static, with little or no room for change or interpretation, or is it flexible, able to grow in a changing world?
First, let’s look at some of the more important aspects of the Amendments.
Most people know that the First Amendment is meant to guarantee free speech and a free press, and the right to practice religion as a person sees fit. However, many today would not admit that it also is meant to ensure freedom from religion, should a person so choose. It was never meant to be an endorsement of religion. And most people know the Second Amendment guarantees the right to “keep and bear arms.” But it does not address what happens when that is taken to the extreme, like fully automatic weapons. And the Amendment that seems to be the most in jeopardy in the current political climate, the Fourth Amendment. “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and siezures…..” The Bush Administration seems to have forgotten this Amendment altogether. The Amendments go on to protect the accused in criminal and civil proceedings, and to talk about States rights.
Why did some feel the necessity to incorporate into the Constitution guarantees for the freedom of individuals? Because they had seen, time and time again through history, what happens to the rights of the populace when government is allowed too much power. Again, a most important lesson for Americans today. They saw the dangers inherent in absolute power, or even unbalanced power. That is why the American system of government is broken into three separate but equal parts. Regardless of how much power the Executive branch might think they have, it is not supposed to be that way. Never is it more important than in a time of perceived danger to remember to be free. It we as a people want to give our freedoms that we take for granted to the next generation, we need to remember to stand up for them whenever they are under assault. The ten Amendments of the Bill of Rights are far more important to the future of America than the Ten Commandments.
We have a wonderful document in The Constitution, a monument to the individual desire to be free. And it is a living and breathing document, able to change to adapt to the future. What must be remembered is that it is meant to change forward, not backward. It must embrace more freedom, not be warped to extinguish freedoms already won. Every American would do well to read it and understand it, not just listen to the pundits. And always remember that the freedom you take away from your neighbor may come back to you as a restriction on something you treasure.
