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The Importance Of James Madison's Contribution To The Constitution

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The Ninth Amendment states, "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people". This was meant to stop the government from being able to increase their power, and it was put in as a precautionary measure. When James Madison introduced this amendment, The Anti-Federalist's supported it because they feared having a strong government. The Anti-Federalist's were the ones whom of which demanded a Bill of Rights. They wanted to ensure that the government wouldn’t be another tyrannical one. The Federalist's were against the Bill of rights; they didn't think it was necessary. Both Alexander Hamilton and James Madison argued it would create a "parchment barrier" meaning it couldn’t really protect anyone. They said that it limited the rights of the people, as opposed to protecting them. Even though James Madison was against it, he eventually contributed to the …show more content…

The first change was adding the fourteenth amendment to the constitution and the Courts interpretation of it. After the Civil War, African Americans were being treated unfairly, especially in the Southern States. Congress tried to protect African Americans from the cruel punishment, but the Courts began ruling that his specific part of the fourteenth amendment meant that the States couldn’t make any laws that violated the rights of the people and the courts also depicted what those rights were. At first, the people through their representatives could determine what behaviors were protected rights and which ones weren't. The Courts decided that people were no longer aloud to do such things through their representatives. It was decided that such decisions would be left up to the Court. The Court completely abandoned the clear wording of the 9th Amendment by adopting this position. The second change was the outcome from the Supreme Court decision of the Griswold vs. Connecticut case in

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