Bill Of Rights Dbq Essay

The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. It was created to protect certain rights that were not obviously granted and protected in the Constitution. It does this extremely well. Philosopher John Locke spoke about how the people feared a government that was too powerful, they did not want a tyranny. They had just escaped the rule of King George and the English monarchy and they wanted a system of government with limited power. This is where the Bill of Rights comes in. Document 1 or the excerpt from the Bill of Rights and the 14th amendment, shows what is protected by this bill. The things protected include the right to bear arms, and no double jeopardy (being tried twice for the same crime). It protects

For the longest time it was considered illegal, but in the case of Texas. V. Johnson that changed. This case ruled that it was legal to burn the flag as long it was not bringing harm to others. In the political cartoon (document 2), there is a man burning the American Flag, which is legal. Behind him is another man burning a smaller version of the flag, which is on the first man's back pocket. As he burns the pocket he is saying, “Oh, I’m all for keeping it legal!”. The authors point of view is that, a lot of people don’t understand that the five freedoms in the First Amendment to the Constitution stop when harm is caused by them. Yes, the man in the cartoon has the right to burn the flag, but he can’t do so if it harms the other man, and it is. The Bill of Rights ensures that the people's freedoms of speech, press, assembly, religion, and petition are preserved, this document specifically showing the protection of the freedom of speech. These freedoms can be limited if the freedom is causing someone to harm another person. This could include using your religion as an excuse to bomb a mall. The Bill of Rights ensures the Americans the right of free speech, but it also ensures that they are safe from harm caused by these freedoms. The amendments do an effective job at protecting the rights of the people when in regards to the five main freedoms. Most things are not limited in the United States, you can wear, do, say, or act

Wainwright was the case where the Sixth Amendment to the constitution was applied to the states. The Sixth Amendment states that a person should have the right to trial by jury, and the right to a lawyer. In the quote from Robert Kennedy (document 3), where he discusses the impact and trial of Gideon v. Wainwright , he proclaims, “he was retried with the help of competent defense council.” In the Gideon v. Wainwright case, Gideon Young had been called into court on the account that he stole change, wine, and coke from the Bay Harbor Pool Hall. He did not make enough money to hire a lawyer, so he asked the state of Florida to provide one for him. He was refused because the court said he did not fall under any of the special circumstances. These circumstances were if the person being tried was illiterate, facing a death sentence, facing a life sentence, had a complex case, or was being tried in a hostile environment. Gideon did not fall under any of these categories and had to defend himself in the trial. He lost and was sentenced to jail. When he was in jail, he read a book about due process of law and realised that he should have been provided a lawyer according to that. He appealed his case to the Supreme Court and they accepted. They declared that the rule that an attorney must be provided to someone if the needed one was constitutional. Gideon was tried again and was defended by an attorney provided to him by the state of Florida. He won the case and set the