Bill of Rights 2
After the Revolution, the States adopted their own constitutions, many of which contained the Bill of Rights. The Americans still faced the challenge of creating a central government for their new nation. In 1777 the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, which were ratified in 1781. Under the Articles, the states retained their "sovereignty, freedom and independence," while the national government was kept weak and inferior. Over the next few years it became evident that the system of government that had been chosen was not strong enough to completely settle and defend the frontier, regulating trade, currency and commerce, and organizing thirteen states into one union. (1) So in the summer of 1787 delegates from the twelve states convened in Philadelphia to draft a new Constitution. They proposed a strong national government that would assume many of the powers previously imposed upon the states. (1) "No sooner than had the Continental Congress laid the proposed Constitution before the people for ratification, " Irving Brant writes, "than a cry went up: it contained no Bill of Rights."(2) People objected because the liberties they had fought for in the Revolution were not being protected by the Constitutio
One Supreme Court reversal with far reaching consequences involved the Court's interpretation of whether the Bill of Rights protected citizens from state, as well as national violations. In 1833 case of Barron v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, the Court ruled that the Bill of Rights could only be applied to strike down illegal actions taken by national government. (3) The Supreme Court views and attitudes can change over time. First the membership of the court changes when a justice retires or dies, and when the new justice is appointed to fill his position the new justice may not share the same views as the previous one. Also, new developments occur with the passing of time, which may cause a change in attitudes and feelings bringing about new concerns on an issue. (3) It was not until after the Civil War that the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments were enacted and began protecting individuals against the states. The Fourteenth Amendment has been the principal means by which this protection has been accomplished. It reads, in part, "No State shall...deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law." The Supreme Court had interpreted this guarantee of liberty to embrace the fundamental liberties in the Bill of Rights, meaning that the state governments must observe and protect them to the same extent as the federal government this is also known called incorporation. The amendments in the Bill of Rights are said to be incorporated against the states through the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. There has been an ongoing debate on the Supreme Court about the extent of incorporation, and whether the entire Bill of Rights, or only some of it's guarantees, should be incorporated against the states. (1) The Bill of Rights has been one of the corner stones that we as Americans have enjoyed and taken for granted for the many years since its
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Approximate Word count = 1291
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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