Happy Bill of Rights Day

Today December 15th, is the anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights

During the debates on the adoption of the Constitution, its opponents repeatedly charged that the Constitution as drafted would open the way to tyranny by the central government. Fresh in their minds was the memory of the British violation of civil rights before and during the Revolution. They demanded a “bill of rights” that would spell out the immunities of individual citizens. Several state conventions in their formal ratification of the Constitution asked for such amendments; others ratified the Constitution with the understanding that the amendments would be offered.

The Bill of Rights

The Conventions of a number of the States having, at the time of 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 extending 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, namely:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 offense 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.

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 defense.

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.

Amendment VIII

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

Amendment IX

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

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.

James Madison wrote the Bill of Rights and was inspired, in part, by the Virginia Declaration of Rights, written by George Mason.

George Mason became a strong voice of dissent against the ratification of the Constitution, today he would be labeled as unpatriotic. Why did Mason oppose the Constitution because “It has no declaration of rights.” James Madison relied heavily upon the Virginia Declaration of Rights penned by Mason in creating our Bill of Rights.

If George Mason would have accepted the Constitution at face value we would not have the liberty we are fighting to maintain today. Thomas Jefferson also relied upon Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights for the opening paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence.
From Virginia Declaration of Rights:
Section 1. That all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.

The University of Chicago Press and the Liberty Fund have joined forces to bring the Founder’s Constitution containing primary documents concerning arguments on both sides of the issues pertaining to our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Using these documents I will attempt to illustrate the need we have for the Bill of Rights and why we should continue to fight for them to be upheld.

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.
Religion
In Maryland a person could expect death for speaking against the tenements of the Christian Religion, 1649. In Salem, Massachusetts many were slaughtered under the accusation of witchcraft legal under the laws of the time.

John Locke provided an excellent argument that remains truthtelling today:

“The care of souls cannot belong to the civil magistrate, because his power consists only in outward force; but true and saving religion consists in the inward persuasion of the mind, without which nothing can be acceptable to God. And such is the nature of the understanding, that it cannot be compelled to the belief of anything by outward force. Confiscation of estate, imprisonment, torments, nothing of that nature can have any such efficacy as to make men change the inward judgment that they have framed of things.”

Speech and Press
Thomas Jefferson’s Inaugural Address

“We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists. If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.”

James Burgh, Political Disquisitions

“But it may be said, there is no necessity for a private writer to be indulged the liberty of attacking the conduct of those who take upon themselves to govern the state. The answer is easy, viz. That all history shews the necessity, in order to the preservation of liberty, of every subject’s having a watchful eye on the conduct of Kings, Ministers, and Parliament, and of every subject’s being not only secured, but encouraged in alarming his fellow-subjects on occasion of every attempt upon public liberty, and that private, independent subjects only are likely to give fair warning of such attempts; their betters (as to rank and fortune) being more likely to conceal, than detect the abuses committed by those in power. If, therefore, private writers are to be intimidated in shewing their fidelity to their country, the principal security of liberty is taken away.”

Petition and Assembly
The Magna Carta written in 1215 specifically installed the right to assemble and present grievances to the monarchy but limited this right to barons excluding the common people.
The Articles of the Confederation, the first step toward gaining Independence from England was indeed a petition and without such declaration would we, Americans, be today, citizens of Britain?

As I was preparing this post, I got out my history books, I am a History major and realized that some key points slipped my understanding completely.

The Bill of Rights were manifested due to the work of the anti-Federalists, those representing the common man, subsistence farmers, at the time. They were from an older generation and had a clear memory of the abuses felt under British rule and knew that power inherently corrupts if not checked. Fearful that the omission of civil liberties from the Constitution would make it possible for those inalienable rights to be trampled they fought to oppose the Constitution. They were labeled radicals that were trying to destroy the future of infant America, but they pressed on. As a compromise, they were promised that as soon as the Constitution was ratified, the Bill of Rights would be added.

I know of another radical today, going up against a King George. This radical believes that the Constitution should be upheld, that if our leaders mislead the public into an illegal war, they should be brought to justice. This radical believes that it is the people that should be heard before corporate interests. This radical believes that money spent on illegal occupations should be spent on healthcare for all not mandated health insurance premiums for all. This radical believes that if we have an educated people that we will rise once again as an economic giant among Nations. This radical believes that education for all is not a privilege but a necessity. This radical believes that government can and should be an engine of sustainablity.

This radical I speak of is Dennis Kucinich and today on the 216th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights I am showing my support by donating $100 as an investment in my country’s future. We need Dennis Kucinich’s ideas, policies, and vision, just as much as we needed George Mason, that unrelenting radical that pushed for the civil liberties to be written into our law of the land.

Join me in reclaiming the path toward excellence and vision of the American experiment.

$100 is a small investment for our future.

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