Bill of Rights and Amendments

Bill of Rights and Amendments

HIS/301

November 15, 2012

Bill of Rights and Amendments

In 1789 the highest law of the United States created by a group of men known as the “Framers”, came together to discuss ideas of a new government. The document that derived from these discussions is known today as “The Constitution”. With Article V of the Constitution, the Framers gave the government a way to make necessary changes that would be needed for the people. These changes to the document would be known as amendments that would establish the means to amend the document according to a two-step process. First, by a two-thirds vote from both houses of Congress, or by a special convention called for the sole purpose of amending. Whereby two thirds of the state legislators must attend, then ratified by three-fourths of those state legislators. Once approved the amendment is placed into law as an official amendment to the Constitution (National Archives, 2012).

Once the Constitution was ratified and became law, many people involved in the process felt there was a need for more specific law. This was in regard to individual rights of the people that the government could not fringe upon. The Framers noted past experiences with the United Kingdom prohibited individual freedom; they wanted to make sure various freedoms such as freedom of speech, religion, and due process were protected. Within two years of the ratification of the Constitution, James Madison authored “The Bill of Rights” that contains a set of 10 articles amending the original Constitution. The initial eight amendments help to trim the government powers and allowed for protection for individual liberties (Patterson, 2009).

The Bill of Rights has had a major impact to the people of the United States. These amendments allow Americans the right to enjoy freedom; freedom of religion and speech. Citizens of the United States are free to express their feelings both positively and...