As the conventions ar a number of States having, at the time of adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of the powers, that further declaratory & restrictive clauses should be added, & as extending the ground of public confidence in the government will best insure the beneficent ends of its institution, resolved, by the Senate & House of Representatives of the United states of America, when congress assembled, two-thirds of both houses concurring, that the following articles be proposed to the legislatures of several states, as amendments to the constitution of the United States; all of which articles, when ratified by three-fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents & purposes as part of the said Constitution, namely:
2nd Amendment | 3rd Amendment | 4th Amendment | 5th Amendment | 6th Amendment | 7th Amendment | 8th Amendment | 9th Amendment | 10th Amendment
Congress will 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, & to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
One of the primary purpose of the First Amendment is to safeguard a person's right to participate in political discourse & the political process. As Abraham Lincoln's 1860 Cooper Union Address, which he delevered as an unannouced presidential candidate, spotlights the way the First Amendment gets individuals to express their political views in our free society. Brought to you from this link. Freedom of Speech Cooper Union Assdress(1860)
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep & bear arms, shall not be infringed.
The Second Amendment was to preserve & guarantee, not to grant, the pre-exesting right of individuals to keep & bear arms. Even though the Amendment states the need for a Militia, membership in any militia, let alone a well regulated one, was not meant to serve as a way to carry out a fuction for exercising the right to keep arms. This came about, from this link:Which is about the 2 Amendment
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.
During the colonial days. Their was a practice of housing British troops in private homes was widespread. One of the complaints against King George III in the Declaration of Independence was for housing large bodies of armed troops among us. The Third Amendment to the Constitution was one of twelve Amendments submitted to the States by the First Congress on September 25, 1789, & was one of the ten ratified on December 15, 1791. That are together & commonly known as the Bill of Rights.his site covers the Third Amendment.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, & effects, against unreasonable searches & seizures, shall not be violated, & no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, & particularly describing the place to be searched, & the persons or things to be seized.
The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches & seizures. Was adopted as a protection against the widespread invasions of privacy experienced by American colonests at the hands of the British Government. Called "writs of assistance". Which gave royal officers broad discretion to conduct searches of the homes of private citizens. That was primarily as a way of discovering violations of strict British customs laws. This practice led to a unique awareness among our Founding Fathers of the threat to individual liberty & privacy that is created by unchecked government search powers.This site is all about the Fourth Amendment.
No person shall be held to anwer 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 ant 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.
"The Fifth Amendment provides that the fideral government cannot deprive a citizen of his property(or his life or liberty) without "due process of law."The quote was taken from this site
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy & public trial, by an impartial jury of the state & district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, & to be informed of the nature & cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, & to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
The history of each of these safeguards is an appendix to the history of despotism. Each is the unwanted child of tyranny. As one reviews them history seems to pass in review. We are reminded of years spent in dungeons by martyrs to our liberty; of secret trials by servile judges, or partial juries sometimes called from afar and often called from the very household of the tyrant who headed the state; of those accused being put on trial without being informed as to the nature and cause of the accusation against them; of whispered and groundless gossip that was often the cause of the accusation; of witnesses for the accused frightened away or intimidated, leaving the accused helpless and devoid of means to compel their attendance; of a friendless accused trying to defend himself against a trained tool of arbitrary power before a judge whose daily bread depended upon the smiles of his sovereign without the assistance of counsel for his defense.This quote can be found on this site.
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, & no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court ot the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
"The Seventh Amendment was included to meet the demands of many Anti-Federalists who wanted to insure trial by jury in civil suits."This is a quote from this site.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel & unusual punishments inflicted.
In a Suprem Court ruled in 1972 that capital punishment, as the way that was then imposed, violated the Seventh amendment. The court held that the death penalty was cruel & unusual punishment because this was not applied fairly & uniformly. After that decision, many states adopted new capital punishment laws designed to meet the Supreme Court's objections.The rest of this decision is in this site.
The enumeration in the constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
The Ninth Amendment provides that the naming of certain rights in the Constitution does not take away from the people's rights. That are not named. Neither the language nor the history of the Ninth Amendment offers any hints as to the nature of the rights that this was designed to protect.This site even give Supreme Court action.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Contitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
This Amendment was adopted to reassure people that the national government would not swallow up the states. This confirms that the states or the people retain all powers not given to the national government.This site has an exsample of the Tenth Amendment.