1.3 Passing the Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights passed the House easily in 1789. When it was sent to the SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the United States Congress, smaller than the U. House of Representatives. Together, they compose the legislative branch of the United States government. Seal of the Senate Each state elects two senators throu, an amendment was removed that forbade states from interfering with the rights of the people. Since records of the meetings of the Senate are not available to the public, no one can say for sure why this amendment was removed (later, in 1868Events January 3 Meiji Emperor declares " Meiji Restoration", his own restoration to full power, against the supporters of the Tokugawa Shogunate. January 10 Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu declares emperor's declaration "illegal" and attacks Kyoto. Pro-Emperor, the Fourteenth AmendmentAmendment XIV (the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution is one of the post- Civil War amendments and includes the due process and equal protection clauses (Section 1). It was adopted on July 28, 1868. Definition of citizen The first sect would be passed establishing the principle that states may not interfere with the rights granted to citizens by the federal government).

On November 20November 20 is the 324th day of the year (325th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 41 days remaining. Events 1272 Following Henry III of England's death on November 16, his son Prince Edward becomes King of England. 1407 A solemn truce be that year, New JerseyNew Jersey is a state of the United States of America and has the U. postal abbreviation of NJ . The state is named after the island of Jersey in the English Channel. The USS New Jersey one of the most decorated vessels in the United States Navy, was name became the first state in the newly-formed Union to ratify these amendments. Other states followed, and the ten amendments were made law on December 15December 15 is the 349th day of the year (350th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 16 days remaining. Events 687 St. Sergius I becomes Pope 1702 Forty-seven ronin, formerly in the service of Asano Naganori, assault the household of Kira Y, 1791Events January 25 The British Parliament passes the Constitutional Act of 1791, splitting the old province of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada March 3 The United States Congress passes a resolution calling for the establishment of the United States Mint with ratification by Virginia legislators. Soon, they became widely known as the Bill of Rights. The eleventh (or "Article the second" as quoted above) was belatedly ratified more than 200 years afterward in 1992 as the Twenty-seventh Amendment to the Constitution; it restricts the ability of Congress to raise its own pay. The twelfth (or "Article the first" as quoted above) is theoretically still pending, but unlikely to ever pass. It deals, as quoted above, with setting the size of the United States House of Representatives. Perhaps unaware that Virginia's approval six months earlier--given the primitive nature of communications in the 1700s--had made ten of the package of twelve already part of the Constitution, lawmakers in Kentucky ratified the entire set of twelve in June of 1792 during that commonwealth's initial month of statehood.

In the first decades of the Republic the Bill of Rights was considered to apply to the federal government, not the state governments. Thus, states has established churches up until the 1820's, and Southern states, beginning in the 1830's, could ban abolitionist propaganda. In Barron v. Baltimore, the Supreme Court specifically declared that the Bill of Rights provided "security against the apprehended encroachments of the general government - not against those of local governments." This changed in 1868 following the Civil War with the Reconstruction ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Fourteenth Amendment makes most of the rights and guarantees of the Bill of Rights apply to the states; it remains this way to this day.

It is controversial whether the Twenty-seventh Amendment should be considered a part of the Bill of Rights; it is listed below only for convenience.

The original copy of the Bill of Rights, which contains the text of all twelve proposed amendments, can be seen by the public today at the National Archives in Washington, DC.

2 The amendments

The amendments making up the Bill of Rights are:

• Amendment I – Freedom of speech, press, religion, peaceable assembly, and to petition the government. [1]
• Amendment II – Right to keep and bear arms. [2]
• Amendment III – Protection from quartering of troops. [3]
• Amendment IV – Protection from unreasonable search and seizure. [4]
• Amendment V – Due process, double jeopardy, self-incrimination, private property. [5]
• Amendment VI – Trial by jury and other rights of the accused. [6]
• Amendment VII – Civil trial by jury. [7]
• Amendment VIII – Prohibition of excessive bail, cruel punishment. [8]
• Amendment IX – Declares that other rights not listed may be protected. [9]
• Amendment X – Grants residual power to the states and to the people. [10]
• Amendment XXVII – Congress cannot increase its members' pay until the next House election. [11]

3 Transcription

The following text is a transcription of the first 10 amendments to the Constitution in their original form. These amendments were ratified December 15, 1791, and form what is known as the "Bill of Rights." Also included is the Twenty-seventh amendment, which was ratified on May 5, 1992.

3.1 Preamble

CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES

Begun and held at the City of New York, on Wednesday, the Fourth of March, One Thousand Seven Hundred Eighty-nine.

The Conventions of a number of the States having, at the Time of their Adopting the Constitution, expressed a Desire, in Order to prevent Misconstruction or Abuse of its Powers, that further declaratory and restrictive Clauses should be added: And as exceeding the Ground of public Confidence in the Government will best insure the beneficent Ends of its Institution,

RESOLVED, by the Senate, and House of Representatives, of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, Two Thirds of both Houses concurring, That the following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as Amendments to the Constitution of the United States: All, or any of, which Articles, when ratified by Three-Fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as part of the said Constitution, viz.

Articles in Addition to, and Amendment of, the Constitution of the United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the Fifth Article of the original Constitution.

3.2 Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

3.3 Amendment II

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.

3.4 Amendment III

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

3.5 Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

3.6 Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

3.7 Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

3.8 Amendment VII

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

3.9 Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

3.10 Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

3.11 Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

3.12 Amendment XXVII

No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of representatives shall have intervened.

Note: Amendment XXVII is actually before Amendment I in the original document, but was not ratified until 1992.

4 External links

• The full text of the United States constitutional amendments
• Teaching the Bill of Rights
• The First — and Now Forgotten — First Amendment On September 25, 1789, the First Congress proposed twelve amendments for what would later become known as the Bill of Rights. The second of these twelve was ratified 200 years later, but the very first Constitutional amendment ever proposed was never ratified.
• Hamilton's Federalist Papers, on opposition to the Bill of Rights

United States Constitution

Main body

Preamble | Article I | Article II | Article III | Article IV | Article V | Article VI | Article VII

Amendments

Bill of Rights: I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | X

Other amendments: XI | XII | XIII | XIV | XV | XVI | XVII | XVIII | XIX | XX | XXI | XXII | XXIII | XXIV | XXV | XXVI | XXVII

History of the Constitution

Federalist Papers | Proposed amendments | Signatures | Unsuccessful amendments

Interpretation of the Constitution

Civil liberties | Congressional power of enforcement | Dormant Commerce Clause | Due process | Separation of powers

Specific clauses in the Constitution

Commerce Clause | Equal protection clause | Full Faith and Credit clause | Preemption of state and local laws | Supremacy clause | No religious test clause

** Human rights instruments

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