Bill of Rights: Emergence, Interpretation, and Societal Changes

This essay delves into the Bill of Rights, exploring its historical context, the reasons behind its emergence, and the influence of the English Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Virginia. It examines debates surrounding the interpretation of the amendments, referencing scholars like Magliocca, Berma...Read More

Running Head: BILL OF RIGHTS
BILL OF RIGHTS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note:

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Reasons behind emergence of Bill of Rights in American Society
According to the history, the constitution of America approved 12 amendments and
sent them for ratification. These amendments are considered as the Bill of Rights tailored to
protect the human rights of the citizens of U.S citizens. These amendments guaranteed
freedom for assembly, speech, press, and religious practice. The Bill of Rights came into
practice getting influenced by the English Bill of Rights 1689. On the other hand, the
Declaration of Virginia also another influence for the emergence of this bill. There are 10 to
14 states debating about Virginia’s declaration. The first few amendments were never ratified
by the state on the other hand, the rest of the amendments were ratified almost two hundred
years later. The American society was mainly engaged with the argument for equal rights of
the society members. Magliocca (2018) mentioned that the history depicts it was aimed at
uplifting the position of middle-class women especially the women who were interested in
job.
Debate about interpreting the amendments
There are several debates about the interpretation of the Bill of Rights amendments.
Berman (2019) mentioned that the 10 amendments of the right define the relation of the
government to the citizens. It is the way to provide assurance of the civil rights and other
liberties for an individual and the mentioned freedoms including speech, press, religion, and
gathering. Mitchell & Coll (2017) argue about the ninth amendment of the bill that include
‘retained by the people’ that includes common law and other forms of inherited law. Mitchell
& Coll, (2017) mentioned about the tenth amendment that limits the power of the federal
government by restating the Constitution – the federal government implied the power and in
the rest of the cases the State government will take the authority. Inman, (2017) mentioned
the term ‘privacy’ is not mentioned in the Bill of rights. They have interpreted the provisions
of the bill as an indicator to protect the common and basic law to privacy. The amendment

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also secures the privacy for communication and property. Tsebelis & Nardi (2016) argued
about the keyword constitutional conventions. It was held in Philadelphia in 1787. It
demonstrate that under the Articles of Confederation, the convention would require to be
supplanted completely in stead of getting merely revised.
Changes the American society and culture pertains since the adoption of the amendment
Tsebelis & Nardi (2016) mentioned about the changes observed within the American
society after the adoption of the amendments. The study begins with briefing about the
history of United Story and the observation less immigrants among them. The amendments
assumed that the citizens will be protected by the regulations. The fourteenth amendment
restricts the state from violating the common people’s livening, property, and liberty. The
application of the Bill of Rights initiated from 1920 by the Supreme Court. As an impact, the
size of the Federal government expanded. The congress representatives took the amendments
for immediate modifications. They consider the lives of American citizen as a component of
Constitutional Law. The amendment secures every individual of the community from abuse
that is an unsettled aspect of interpretation of the Constitution. Along with this, the
amendments also put prohibition for unreasonable search including seizure, cruel, and unique
punishment along with the compelled self-incrimination. After the emergence of the
fourteenth amendment the constitution secures the element against ‘deprive any individual
life, property or liberty without any legal procedure’.
Court based argument on the amendments
The amendment secure ‘Equal Justice Under Law’ and the court is known as the
highest tribunal in the National which is equal for all the cases. the Supreme court distinctly
handle every case that comes under the jurisdiction. It is a balanced document that is a
strongly possess equal eye to meet the requirement of the republic and sufficiently secure the

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rights of the citizens. The court interpret the fifth Amendment that includes that the criminal
cases should be compelled that should be witnessed against the self. On the other hand,
state’s attack against the lower court depends on the trio of U.S Supreme Court initially
(Mitchell & Coll, 2017). According to Marshall, the challenge of Supreme Court lies in the
maintenance of the free government. They noted that the court should never forget that they
are expounding the constitution that is endured for ages to appear and adapted to address the
variety of crises the human being undergoes. Moreover, the Bill of Rights has made various
changes within the lives of the common citizens on the other hand, it has brought significant
changes in the judicial procedure also.

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References
Berman, D. A. (2019). Lake Erie Bill of Rights Gets the Ax: Is Legal Personhood for Nature
Dead in the Water. Sustainable Dev. L. & Pol'y, 20, 15.
Inman, M. H. (2017). An Investigation into the Potential Impact of Carve-Outs for Ranching
and Farming Protections through State Constitutional Amendments. Alb. L. Rev., 81,
1417.
Magliocca, G. N. (2018). The heart of the constitution: How the bill of rights became the bill
of rights. Oxford University Press.
Mitchell, T. D., & Coll, K. M. (2017). Ethnic studies as a site for political education: Critical
service learning and the California domestic worker bill of rights. PS: Political
Science & Politics, 50(1), 187-192.
Tsebelis, G., & Nardi, D. J. (2016). A long constitution is a (positively) bad constitution:
evidence from OECD countries. British Journal of Political Science, 46(2), 457-478.