Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

The Bill of Rights ?Individual rights are the oldest and most traditional of American values.? (ACLU, 1997) The Bill of Rights is a document consisting of the Constitution?s first ten amendments. The first eight of these amendments specify certain basic freedoms and safeguards we as citizens hold. They protect the people from wrongdoings or unjust acts committed toward them by the federal government. The Government, due to these amendments, cannot change or interfere with these rights. Ancient Greeks and Romans created many of the basic ideas used in the Bill of Rights (Lowi&Ginsberg 1998). The United States Constitution was adopted in 1788, but ??a number of prominent Americans were alarmed at the omission of individual liberties in the proposed constitution.? (Early America, 2001) Both James Madison and Thomas Jefferson fought over the acceptance of these views. It was James Madison, though, that helped pass the first ten amendments. ?On September 25, 1789, the First Congress of the United States therefore proposed to the state legislatures 12 amendments to the Constitution that met arguments most frequently advanced against it. The first two proposed amendments, which concerned the number of constituents for each