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The Bill of Rights was adopted and added to the constitution in 1719. The Bill of rights consists of the first 10 amendments. They are:
1. Prevents congress from establishing an official religion for the nation; gives people the freedom of speech, the press, to meet together in groups, and ask the government for help.
2. Gives people the right to own guns to protect themselves.
3. Protects the privacy of people's homes; prevents the government from forcing people to keep force soldiers in their homes.
4. Makes it necessary for police to get a court order to search a person's home or to take anything that belongs to a person.
5. Protects peoples rights by requiring that a grand jury decide if there is enough evidence to charge the person with a serious crime;protects a person for being tried twice for the same crime; protects a person from having to testify against himself or herself. Says the government can't take away a persons property without a paying a fair price.
6. Anyone accused of a crime is guaranteed the right to know why he or she is being arrested, to have a lawyer, and if charged, to have a speedy trial.
7. Guarantees a jury trial for civil cases in which citizens sue for damage.
8. Forbids very high bail, fines that are too high, and cruel punishments.
9. Says that people have many other rights that are not listed in the Constitution.
10. Gives to the state or the people all the power not spelled out as belonging to the federal government by the constitution.
Other Amendments
11. Prohibits a citizen from one state from suing the government of another state in Federal Court. Also prohibits a non- United States citizen from suing any U. S. state in U.S. Federal court.
12. Changes the way the President and Vice President are elected
13. Makes slavery illegal.
14. Protects the rights of all American citizens, regardless of race or color.
15. Guarantees all male U.S. citizens the right to vote.
16. Grants Congress the right to collect a personal income tax.
17. Changes the way Senators are elected to a direct vote of people.
18. Prohibits the making, sale, and shipment of Alcoholic beverages.
19. Guarantees women the right to vote.
20. Fixes the beginning of the President's and Vice President's term at noon on January fixes the terms of Senators and representatives at noon on January 3.
21. Cancels the 18th Amendment and allows laws regarding the sale of alcoholic beverages to be decided by states.
22. Prohibits President from serving more than two terms.
23. Grants residents of the District of Columbia the right to vote in Presidential elections and assigns them three electoral voters.
24. Eliminates poll taxes in states and Federal elections. Says no person can be denied the right to vote for failing to pay a tax.
25. Allows a President to step aside temporarily without resigning. Should the President die or become unable to continue in office, the Vice President will become President and will appoint a new Vice President, subject to the approval of Congress.
26. Lowers the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen.
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The historic document in which the American colonists declared their freedom from Britain stated the reasons for being free, Britain's abuses to the colonies, and that all men are created equal and have certain rights. During the ten year period that led to the adoption of the Declaration, American leaders constantly challenged The British Parliament's right to tax the colonists. Parliament tried to tax the people in three different ways, the Stamp Act of 1765, the Town shed Acts of 1767, and the Tea Act of 1773. The Stamp Act was a tax to put stamps on letters, newspapers, playing cards, and various legal objects. The Town shed Acts was a tax on all imported goods that came to the colonists. The colonists reacted by boycotting (not purchasing) British goods. This hurt the British business. The Tea Act was Britain's way of getting the colonists to buy the British tea at a much lower price than the tea they were smuggling into the towns. If the colonists agreed, it would give Britain a right to tax them. The residents answered by dumping hundreds of pounds of British tea into the Boston Harbor, and this event is now known as the Boston Tea Party. In 1774, Parliament responded to the Boston Tea Party by adopting laws that closed the Boston Harbor and gave the British appointed governor of Massachusetts more power. In addition, the laws allowed British officials accused of crimes against the Americans to return to Britain for a trial. Angry residents referred to these laws as the Intolerable Acts, or the Coercive Acts. On September 5, 1774, the First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia to discuss common measures of resistance against the Intolerable Acts. All colonies sent representatives except Georgia. The delegates supported the idea of most colonists, they could not be ruled by a Parliament in which they are not represented. They thought the least Parliament could do would be to regulate British trade. Some of the colonists still wanted to remain part of the British Empire, but felt they owed nothing to Parliament. The Congress hoped King George III would lift the Intolerable Acts. In 1775, most colonists still did not want to be independent from Britain. The delegates to the Second Continental Congress, which established on May 10,1775, continued to hope the king would lift the taxes. In the meantime, the Revolutionary War began. In 1776, a political writer called Thomas Paine published his book Common Sense , which deeply supported reasons for being independent from Britain. As the fighting grew stronger, uniting with Britain seemed almost hopeless. On June 7, 1776 Richard Henry Lee of Virginia told the Second Continental Congress that "these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States". After several days of arguments on what to do, the Congress made committee to write a declaration of freedom from Britain. The committee gave the task of writing the declaration to Thomas Jefferson, who completed the work in about two weeks. Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania and John Adams of Massachusetts made a few minor changes to the document. On July 2, Congress approved the declaration and began to discuss Jefferson's draft. A few passages, including the one disapproving of King George's slave trading, were taken out. On July 4, Congress adopted the final draft of the Declaration of Independence. Only two members of congress signed the document on July 4, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. The Declaration was printed and read to a large crowd in the courtyard of the State House on July 8. On July 19, the Congress ordered that it be engrossed (written in stylish script) and that all members sign it. Eventually, 56 members signed. |
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