What Is The Purpose Of The Bill Of Rights ?
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The Articles of Confederation was drafted and formed during the Revolutionary War. It was extremely weak and did not provide the National Government or the President with any type of powers whatsoever. The State Governments on the other hand had immense power to regulate and control the country’s state of affairs. This led to the formation of an extremely weak country with a powerless Center. This forced the delegates to make some amendments to the Articles and replace it with a Constitution.
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The Constitution was formulated to give more powers to the National Government helping it run the country in a more organized fashion. The anti federalists feared that this would bestow too much power on the President turning him into a monarch. To refute these claims, a provision was made to include the Bill of Rights that would safeguard the citizens’ interests and freedom.
The first 10 amendments made to the Constitution are generally termed Bill of Rights. The amendments are as follows:
Freedom of speech
Freedom of religion
Freedom of press
Peaceful assemblies
Rights to possess arms
Preventing forceful quartering of soldiers
Prevent the government from forcefully searching a citizen’s belongings, his house, legal documents, etc. unless there is a real need to do so.
This provided special rights to the accused who could defend and protect himself from self-incrimination.
Right to a speedy trial for the accused
Trial by a jury in civil cases
Protection against corporal punishment and excess bail
Allows for inclusion of rights not specified in the Bill
Rights and powers to the State government and the people
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When America was on the verge of independence during the Revolutionary War, the Second Continental Congress drafted the Articles of Confederation. It laid down specific rules and laws to govern Independent America. There were serious flaws in the Articles giving the State Governments huge amounts of rights and powers while the National Government was reduced to a puppet. This led it an imbalance of power crippling the country’s economy.