Civil liberties are defined as “the personal guarantees and freedoms that the government cannot abridge by law, constitution, or judicial interpretation.” Civil liberties incorporate specific rights such as the right to free speech, press, assembly, and petition contained in the First Amendment. The United States Constitution or more specifically the Bill of Rights is the foundation for the impartment and preservation of civil liberties in America. The Bill of Rights consists of the first ten Amendments of the United States Constitution, these Amendments guarantee an individual with basic rights and liberties that will not be infringed upon by the government. Though the First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law… abridging the
In trying to figure out if the first congress wanted to adopt the constitution or not they realized that they did not want it to be a repeat of how the British violation of civil rights before and during the Revolution. The founding father seen that as an example of what not to do therefore they can focus on what would be better at the time for congress and United States. This is why the U.S. Bill of Rights was to be constructed in way to organized citizen’s actions. It was like giving a rule book to the people in protecting citizens therefore they feel protected by their government.
In Document I they are taking out the Bill of Rights and putting that information elsewhere and enter information that doesn’t need to be in the Constitution. One of Thomas Jefferson's group leaders has sent a copy of his work and he noticed that he took out one part of information that needs to be in The Constitution. Without the Bill of Right the people will turn against their government. Thomas Jefferson said a complaint to his friend and wanted to know why he took out the Bill of Rights. With the Bill of Rights the people are under control because they accept what is written and why they look up to the Bill of Rights.
The Anti-Federalists were correct that a Bill of Rights was necessary to guard citizens from tyranny. To begin with, the Constitution is the framework for the organization of the U.S government and for the relationship the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the nation. When the United States was being born, the Founders adopted the first constitution to the nation called, Article of Confederation which created a central government that did not have much power and most of the power were given to the state government. However, the Article of Confederation was not working because there was no chief executive, no court system, and most important that was the central government could not force a state to pay taxes.
Not everyone agrees with the government or if we should even have a government. What's the point of having rules, laws, someone in charge of running who could be unqualified? Each person in the government is protected by having for too much power. Every single person that has something to do with the federal government has some sort of power of someone. John Dickinson wrote The Articles of Confederation which were very weak and a disappointed to our country.
After the Constitution was sent to states for ratification, the people felt the Constitution did not protect the natural rights of the American citizens. The cause or reason for this addition to the Constitution was to ensure that the rights detailed in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were not thought to be the only possible rights of American citizens. The Anti-Federalists, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and George Mason, said that if certain rights weren't specifically granted to the people, the government would easily take over these rights and abuse the people in the country. The Federalists, George Washington, John Adams, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, said that the Constitution give the government to do things that were
To be honest I wouldn’t give up my freedom for increased security from terrorism. Benjamin Franklin stated, “They who would give up essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security.” I couldn’t have said it any better. We have been fighting for our rights for a very long time. Many people have died to ensure that people have liberties.
Thomas Jefferson once wrote to James Madison: "A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth" seeing that some Federalist was skeptical of the idea of listing rights. James Madison called it "parchment barrier" but regardless of his skepticism the declaration of rights was added to the US Constitution13. Initially, some amendments proposed by Madison were rejected including his "proposal to extend free speech protections to the States. " What followed were debates over spelling out what constituted the Bill of Rights, especially the "due process of law" preserved under the 14th Amendment. However, it was not until in 1925, in Gitlow vs. New York, 268 U.S. 652, did the US Supreme Court found
Although I have not committed an illegal act, I know that if I am suspected of one that I will have Civil Liberties in place to protect me. I am protected from unreasonable seizures or searches as well as being ensured to a speedy trial by my peers without an unreasonable bail. Also, if I am found innocent of a crime, I cannot be prosecuted for the same crime a second time. These Civil Liberties have had a larger influence on my life thus far than Civil Rights have
The Bill of Rights retains basic freedoms for individuals such as freedom of religion; a crucial right attained through the first amendment in the constitution can be seen in the freedom of speech and press. This amendment allows for citizens to speak out against actions taken by the government in which they do not agree with. This amendment also allows popular opinions to form as opposed to scattered opinions that will not be as strong as individuals. Another key feature to limit the government can be seen in the same article, where the Bill of Rights states that an individual has the right to attain an impartial jury for a trial. This can extremely limit how much the government can use its power over its citizens; this is due citizens having the ability to take legal actions against
The first 10 amendments to the Constitution make up the Bill of Rights which was written by James Madison. He wrote The Bill Of Rights in response of calls from several states for greater constitutional protection of individual liberties. The people who signed the declaration made a promise to protect the people from the government. The colonist wanted to keep their rights because they had a fear of a tyrannical government. People believed and were taught that The Bill Of Rights came from the desire to protect the liberties won in the American Revolution.
It create Reconstruction Amendments, the important landmarks in civil rights for black Americans The “Reconstruction Amendments” passed by Congress between 1865 and 1870 eliminated slavery, gave black Americans equal protection under the law, and granted suffrage to black men. Although racist violence and Jim Crow laws eroded these constitutional rights, blacks still began participating in politics, and these amendments established the legal basis for more fundamental equality during the civil rights era of the 1950s and 60s. Historian Donald R. Shaffer argued that the gains during Reconstruction for African Americans were not entirely extinguished. The legalization of African-American marriage and family and the independence of black churches
As citizens of the United States of America, I believe that we have the right to think for ourselves. For example, in the communist country China, the country regulates the media by claiming that the media will expose state secrets and endanger the country. By doing this, it prevents the citizens of that country to think for themselves by restricting what they can read, watch and hear. As Americans, we also have the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the US constitution and guaranteeing rights for the citizens of the country. Specifically, the First Amendment that guarantees the freedoms of religion, assembly, press, peace and speech.
Chapter 4 of the book We the People talks about Civil Liberties, this chapter mainly talks about the Rights that were placed in the Constitution (not in the Bill of Rights), it also talks about the Bill of Rights and it describes the rights protected by the Bill of Rights. It also talks about specific rights that work close together with the Bill of Rights and Amendments rights. One of the first Amendments that is described in great detail is Freedom of Speech and Religion. The first Amendment protects US citizens right to talk about almost any topic in the United States. I said almost any topic because there are some forms of speech that aren’t protected by the First Amendment (these forms of speech can be limited or prohibited), some of the forms of speech that aren’t protected by the First Amendment are Fighting Words and Hate Speech, Student Speech, Libel and Slander speech.
Nearly one hundred years ago, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was formed in order to encourage and protect freedom of speech and other constitutional rights, especially to groups that are often seen as controversial and thus less deserving of those rights. Its position remains largely the same today. The major issues the ACLU champions in the current day are full rights for LGBT Americans, abortion rights, freedom from government surveillance, and combating mass incarceration. The ACLU lobbies, but mostly uses legal means to affect the government. The ACLU provides legal counsel in civil liberties cases, files civil liberties suits, and participates often in amicus curiae briefs.
There are three main goals of democracy: contestation, participation, and responsiveness. Civil liberties are the rights that are guaranteed to US citizens under specific amendments in the Bill of Rights or are specifically stated elsewhere in the Constitution. One of the most popular and most frequently referenced examples of civil liberties is the first amendment. All five rights explicitly stated in the first amendment are huge in furthering the goals of democracy but specifically the right to petition and the right to assemble.