Omar Bennett
The Constitution is a charter of negative liberties, which means it tells the federal government or the state to let people alone. It does not require the federal government or the state to provide services, even so elementary a service as maintaining law and order. The Bill of Rights, which includes the first ten amendments to the Constitution, protects people's civil liberties, which allow them to live their own lives. These include freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Freedom of religion | First Amendment |
| Freedom of speech | First Amendment |
| Freedom of the press | First Amendment |
| Freedom of assembly | First Amendment |
| Right to keep and bear arms | Second Amendment |
| No housing of soldiers in private homes | Third Amendment |
| Protection from unreasonable search and seizure | Fourth Amendment |
| Protection from self-testimony and being tried twice for the same crime | Fifth Amendment |
| Protection from seizure of property under eminent domain | Fifth Amendment |
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What You'll Learn
The Constitution is a charter of negative liberties
The Bill of Rights also includes the right to keep and bear arms, the right to be free from housing soldiers in private homes, protection against unreasonable search and seizure, and protection against self-testimony and double jeopardy. Despite the existence of these rights, surveys show that many Americans are unaware of the full extent of their constitutional rights. Some people admit that they do not know what rights are included in the Constitution and its first ten amendments, while others believe that the Constitution went too far in granting certain rights, such as free speech and a free press.
The absence of a bill of rights in the original Constitution generated more controversy than any other aspect of the document and nearly prevented its ratification. Some delegates to the Constitutional Convention felt it was unnecessary to spell out people’s rights in the national Constitution, while a few dissenters refused to sign the document because it lacked a guarantee of individual rights. When James Madison campaigned for the Constitution's ratification in Virginia, he encountered such intense popular dismay over the missing bill of rights that he pledged to support changes to the Constitution to protect those rights.
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The Bill of Rights
The Constitution is a charter of negative liberties, which means it tells the federal government or the state to leave people alone. It does not require the federal government or the state to provide services, even basic ones like maintaining law and order.
When the Constitution was approved in 1789, some people felt that it did not protect some basic rights and that it should be changed to protect those rights. On December 15, 1791, changes were made to the Constitution. These first 10 changes, or amendments, guarantee specific freedoms and rights; together they are called the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights includes some of the most basic freedoms and rights that we think of today in the United States.
The first amendment guarantees freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly. The second amendment gives people the right to keep and bear arms. The third amendment restricts housing soldiers in private homes. The fourth amendment protects against unreasonable search and seizure. The fifth amendment protects against self-testimony, being tried twice for the same crime, and the seizure of property under eminent domain.
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Freedom of religion, speech, press and assembly
The Constitution is a charter of negative liberties, meaning that it tells the federal government or the state to leave people alone. It does not require the federal government or the state to provide services.
When the Constitution was approved in 1789, some people felt that it did not protect some basic rights and that it should be changed to protect those rights. On December 15, 1791, changes were made to the Constitution. The first 10 changes, or amendments, guarantee specific freedoms and rights; together they are called the Bill of Rights.
The First Amendment includes freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly. These are some of the most basic freedoms and rights that we think of today in the United States.
The Bill of Rights protects people’s civil liberties, which allow them to live their own lives according to their beliefs. However, some Americans have expressed the opinion that the Constitution went too far in granting such rights as free speech and a free press, and that society should be able to restrict opinions and behaviour with which the majority disapproves.
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The right to keep and bear arms
> A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
The Amendment has been the subject of considerable debate, with some arguing that it creates an individual constitutional right to possess firearms. This "individual right theory" holds that the United States Constitution restricts legislative bodies from prohibiting firearm possession, or at least that the Amendment renders prohibitory and restrictive regulation presumptively unconstitutional.
The Second Amendment was originally only applied to the federal government, but arguments asserting that the Fourteenth Amendment extended those rights to individuals against state governments were struck down by the Supreme Court in 1876’s United States v. Cruikshank. The Amendment's purpose gradually shifted from being predominantly a bulwark against foreign invasion and federal overreach, to general safety and protection of life, liberty, and property.
In 2008, the Supreme Court affirmed in District of Columbia v. Heller that the Second Amendment protected the right of all individual citizens to keep and bear their own weapons to defend themselves, instead of only being for a state-run militia. The Court also stated that the right is not unlimited and does not preclude the existence of certain long-standing prohibitions such as those forbidding "the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill" or restrictions on "the carrying of dangerous and unusual weapons".
Modern scholars Thomas B. McAffee and Michael J. Quinlan have stated that James Madison "did not invent the right to keep and bear arms when he drafted the Second Amendment; the right was pre-existing at both common law and in the early state constitutions". In contrast, historian Jack Rakove suggests that Madison's intention in framing the Second Amendment was to provide assurances to moderate Anti-Federalists that the militias would not be disarmed.
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Protection against unreasonable search and seizure
The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution protects against unreasonable search and seizure. This means that the government cannot search your home, your person, or your property without a good reason. It also means that the government cannot take your property or belongings without a valid reason.
The Fourth Amendment is an important protection of civil liberties, allowing people to live their lives according to their own choices. It helps to ensure that the government does not overstep its boundaries and interfere with the lives of its citizens.
Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Congress passed the U.S.A. Patriot Act, which expanded the government's access to private records. This included medical records and library records. This Act demonstrated the importance of the Fourth Amendment in protecting people's privacy and civil liberties.
The Fourth Amendment is a key part of the Constitution's protection of liberty. It ensures that the government cannot arbitrarily search or seize people's property, and helps to maintain a balance between the power of the government and the rights of individuals.
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Frequently asked questions
The Constitution is a charter of negative liberties, which means it tells the federal government or the state to leave people alone. It does not require the federal government or the state to provide services.
The first ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, guarantee specific freedoms and rights. These include freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, the right to keep and bear arms, and the right to be secure in one's person and property from unreasonable searches and seizures.
When the Constitution was first approved in 1789, some people felt that it did not protect certain basic rights. On December 15, 1791, changes were made to the Constitution to address these concerns. These first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights.
The Bill of Rights protects people's civil liberties, which allow them to live their own lives according to their beliefs and values. For example, it protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, and protects against self-incrimination.
