Bill+of+Rights,+1791

Chelsea Harris Period 1 4/3/09 Mr. Nolan The Bill of Rights: ** 1. Background (Causes/Times)** A major cause of the American Revolution was the unhappy British residents in North America. These people had come to America to be freed from the British law. The new Americans were dissatisfied with the control that the British had over North America, which lead to the war. The Americans finally won their independence and were swift to create a constitution and then to enshrine rights into the document. These changes to the constitution are called amendments. The first ten amendments are a plethora of natural rights that are given to each citizen, satisfying the new Americans attempts to rid themselves of the very strict and controlling British law. Originally, the idea of instating unalienable rights came from George Mason, “Father of the Bill of Rights”. Mason drafted the Virginia Declaration of Rights in 1776 asserting the philosophy of giving certain rights to citizens that could not be taken away. James Madison, newly elected into the House of Representatives, agreed with Mason’s philosophy of unalienable rights. He began to draft twelve articles pertaining to the rights of religion, speech and the press, using a great deal of the ideology from Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights. Madison introduced these articles to the First United States Congress in 1789. Ten of these articles were put into effect after being ratified by three-fourths of the States. While the first two proposed amendments, which concerned the number of constituents for each Representative and the compensation of Congressmen, were not ratified. Other influences on the Bill of Rights include: The English Bill of Rights, works of the Age of Enlightenment specifically natural rights and other earlier political documents such as the Magna Charta. The most prominent controversy attached with the creation of the Bill of Rights was between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. Alexander Hamilton represented the Federalists position when he claimed that protection of individual rights were unnecessary because instating the constitution did not mean that the American people were giving up their natural rights. Hamilton claimed that although it has been necessary in the past to reserve rights with the example of the Magna Charta which gave citizen all right not reserved by the prince, the Constitution in America is different and does not need the written law. Another factor that effected Hamilton’s reluctance to accept a Bill of Rights was the fear that rights left unmentioned in this document would not be respected. His solution was the use of the British system, common law. Common law does not define any natural rights nor does it limit the interpretation of rights given in the constitution. The Anti-Federalists were supporters of written natural rights ensured to citizens of North America. The Bill of Rights currently solves the problem Hamilton had with failing to guarantee unmentioned rights with the Nineteenth Amendment. The Bill of Rights is the founding list of rights and liberties to be guarded by the American government. The primary significance is that the Bill of Rights guarantees that the same rights will be given to every person without the interference of the national government. The Bill of Rights is not only significant in history, but it is also significant in the everyday life of each American citizen. The ability for people to speak freely, respect their own faiths and personal opinions is constantly attained by every citizen with every choice he or she makes. The Bill of Rights establishes the rights of the accused and the freedoms that are fundamental to the American system. In my opinion, on the scale from one to one hundred, one being the most significant, I would place the Bill of Rights at number three. I would choose this place because the Bill of Rights is one of the most vital documents in American history, although, it is shadowed by the Constitution and The Declaration of Independence as the top two most momentous documents to America in general. The Monroe Doctrine and the Bill of Rights are similar in the sense that they both limit the rights of a power. The Monroe Doctrine limits the rights of countries in the eastern hemisphere (mainly directed at European countries) to settle in the western hemisphere, particularly in Latin America. The Bill of Rights limits the rights of the federal government to control all of the civil liberties that people are commonly guaranteed as common law. The Monroe Doctrine and the Bill of Rights are different in the sense that they are limiting different sets of affairs. The Monroe Doctrine deals with international affairs between countries. It was put into place to keep America as the leading power over the weaker countries that were south of America in the Caribbean. The Bill of Rights deals with the individual rights of the citizens in America and limiting the federal government’s control on them, giving more control to the state governments. In my opinion, the Bill of Rights is much more significant in American history than the Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine was more of a specifically aimed document that had a fair impact on America at the time, but does not continually affect the history of the United States. Also, the United States does not have definite control over the western hemisphere, so the Monroe Doctrine is simply an attempt at a solution to an issue. The Bill of Rights is significant in that it is constantly relied on by every citizen and protects their valued rights. The Bill of Rights is the cornerstone of our country and helps balance the government.
 * 2. History**
 * 3. Controversy Attached**
 * 4. Significance in History**
 * 5. Scale**
 * 6. Compare and Contrast**