Whether or not to add in a Bill of Rights was a huge debate among the framers of our Constitution. While the framers ended up ratifying the Constitution without a Bill of Rights, shortly after a Bill of Rights was added in the first ten amendments to the Constitution. This Bill of Rights is what grants us our basic freedoms such as freedom of speech, religion, the press, and the right to bear arms. On one side, many of the framers, who called themselves Federalist, did not want to add a bill of rights to the Constitution. The Federalist feared that a bill of rights would do the opposite of protecting our freedoms. They also believed that a bill of rights was essentially showing that we get our natural freedoms from government. However, in reality
The bill of rights is a popular document that was not originally in the US constitution, but anti federalists wanted a bill of rights really bad because supposedly they were afraid of a strong central government. They did not want another king so some states refused the constitution until there was a bill of rights. Along with being afraid of a central government they wanted a limited government so that government could not control them. The anti federalists also thought the government would not protect their individual rights enough so they wanted a bill of rights.
The Anti-federalists opposed the Constitution because they believed it did not secure their rights and gave the government too much power. (2) Patrick Henry, an Anti-federalist from Virginia said that the constitution took away the states rights to be individual and to make separate decisions as well. (4) The Federalists saw the Anti-federalists complaint and realized that in order for the Constitution to be passed, they would need a Bill of Rights. (6) This Bill of Rights would give rights to the people and the states. 12 amendments were submitted for ratification by congress, but the states only ratified 10 of them. They became know as the Bill of Rights which made most
Originally the Constitutional framers did not include a list of specific liberties. These liberties later would become a Bill of Rights. Many of the founding fathers did not believe it was necessary to spell out these individual liberties because they felt that the U.S. Constitution already made it clear what the limits on the government’s powers were. Soon it would become more evident that the Constitution didn’t go far enough in addressing the issue of national power. As the ratification debates began, numerous issues arose. The framers realized the pressing need for a specific Bill of Rights.
During the Constitutional Convention, the Federalists and Anti Federalists disagreed on many aspects of the Constitution.The Federalists wanted a strong central government while the Anti Federalists were more for state rights. That is just a small fraction of the many arguments that these two factions disagreed upon. The Constitution was eventually ratified with the Federalists compromising with the Anti Federalists by adding The Bill of Rights, a list of the general rights that a citizen was entitled to. Although the Bill of Rights gives us our inalienable rights, the government has compromised our rights to a significant extent many times in history due to fear, corruption, and control.
5. Federalists argued against a bill of rights since the Constitution guaranteed freedoms such as habeas corpus, no bill of attainder, no ex post facto law, trial by jury, privileges and immunities, no religious tests, and obligation to contracts
The Constitution did not include the Bill of Rights, the Anti- Federalists believed that this was yet another example of there being no limit on the centralized government’s power, and there was no protection for the
Many Americans opposed the ratification of the constitution because they desired for the Bill of Rights to be included in it. An Old Whig exclaimed, “We ought carefully to guard ourselves by a BILL OF RIGHTS…” (Document 5). In addition, Anti-Federalists believed that if the Constitution is adopted there will be disagreements between states and representatives will essentially be competing against each other.
Anti-Federalists believed that a bill of rights was crucial to keep individual liberties. Congress received the proposed Constitution on September 20. It then voted to send the document to the state legislatures for the ratification process.
Several different viewpoints on how the Constitution should be shaped can often cause conflicting outcomes. The main topic the argument is if a bill of rights is really necessary. Federalist, a person who supports a system of government, and the Anti-Federalist, who opposes the creation of a stronger government, both have strong feelings towards the idea of a bill of rights. Federalist label the bill "unnecessary" to the Constitution, while Anti-Federalist says it is exactly what the constitution needs. While the Federalist did make some interesting points, the Anti-Federalist won the argument regarding the need for a bill of rights.
When the original Articles of Confederation was drafted in 1777, a bill of rights was considered unnecessary. The U.S government was not considered a single national government, but an alliance of independent states. Since the national government has no power to restrict people’s rights, there was no need for laws to prevent it from doing so. During the Constitutional Convention of 1787 the Constitution was passed without a bill of rights. When the constitution was sent to the states for ratification, a debate broke out between the Federalists, who supported a strong national government, and the Anti-Federalists, who supported retaining the spirit of the Articles of Confederation . Although the constitution was passed without a bill of rights, some Anti-Federalists felt that that it would be worthwhile to specifically protect through constitutional amendments such individual rights as free speech, religious exercise, and jury trials. Thomas Jefferson who sided with Anti-Federalists on this matter, sent a letter in 1789 to James Madison to pass the bill of rights . Madison submitted a draft of his proposed bill of rights several months later, and Congress passed it modified version by the end of the year. After ratification by the states, the Final Bill of Rights consisted of ten amendments that covered a wide range of topics, guaranteeing citizens individual rights such as freedom of speech and religious liberty and protecting them from excessive bail, unwarranted searches,
Federalists argued that the Constitution would improve the nation’s economy and social status, as well as fixing the errors made in the Articles of Confederation. Anti-federalists argued that the new Constitution’s executive branch received too much power and the poorer and less educated would receive the least power. Anti-federalists also argued that the Constitution would violate their natural rights and freedoms. Although the Anti-federalists may have made solid arguments, the federalists won the debate. In order for the Anti-federalists to agree with the U.S. Constitution. The convention compromised with the Anti-federalists to write the Bill of Rights to protect and secure citizens rights. Slowly, but surely the U.S. corrected other errors addressed by the Anti-federalists Constitution along the way. All in all, this discourse was a healthy debate for shaping the present United States of
The Bill of Rights was added to gain much of the anti-federalists support and confidence after the downfall of the Articles of Confederation. In order to avoid this problem in the future the Framers included the Necessary and Proper Clause in Article One of the Constitution. This gave Congress the power “to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying
In order to understand the motivation of the Framers of the U.S. Constitution one must review the event leading up to it. When the war with Great Britain finally came to a close, the Colonialist of America became weary of what was to come. Many who were well versed in Tomas Hobbes and John Locke feared, without proper action and if not too long delayed, the that states would find themselves in a State of Nature.
While the Federalists did not believe it was necessary to include the Bill or Rights in the Constitution, the Anti-Federalists felt otherwise. The Anti-Federalist believed the Constitution would cause the federal government to have too much power. They did not want to have the possibility of losing
There are many Amendments in The Bill of Rights and all of the rights are to the constitution to the United States. The purpose of the The Bill of Rights is to protect individuals liberties. The Bill of Rights was written in 1789 and was ratified in December 15, 1791, James Madison wrote The Bill of Rights and he was the one to guide it through the New Constitution.