Bill Rights

The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution came to be termed as the Bill of Rights. It was introduced to the United States Congress as a series of Articles, and came to effect on December 15; 1791.This Bill prohibited the Congress from making any law that infringed upon the rights of the American citizens. Madison introduced the Bill of Rights to the first Congress as it was an issue of priority of the states which felt the need for its inclusion in the Constitution. There was also a growing fear that the federal government that becoming too despotic and was infringing upon the basic liberties of the people. Thomas Jefferson, the then U.S. Minister to France wrote to James Madison that he was concerned about the omission of a bill of rights....providing clearly....for freedom of religion, freedom of the press, protection against standing armies, and restriction against monopolies. The first ten amendments that were added to the constitution provided the citizens with some basic liberties to the citizens.

The Bill of Rights can be summarized as below

• Freedom to practice any religion, freedom of speech and expression and freedom to hold meetings and redress grievance to the government.
• The right to bear arms in defense
• Right not to house soldiers except if it is a law by the Congress
• Right to deny unreasonable search or seizure of goods
• Right to ask for a discussion of Grand Jury before being convicted of a crime
• Right of trial by a Jury in case of civil cases
• Right to have reasonable bail and denial of unusual punishments for criminal charges
• Rights to respect the rights of others
• Right to respect the views of the states and the people