Essay On The Origins And Incorporation Of The Bill Of Rights

The Origins and Incorporation of the Bill of Rights
When the U.S. Constitution was first drafted it only addressed how the government would function and lacked any mention of individual rights and liberties at the federal or state level. This lack of individual rights and civil liberties provided difficulty in the ratification of the Constitution by the states. It took years of debate between the Federalist and Anti-Federalist to create the Bill of Rights (The Bill of Rights: A Brief History), The Federalists thought the Bill of Rights was unnecessary and the Anti-Federalists would not support the Constitution without it. The American People wanted guarantees that the new government would not trample on their newly won freedoms (The Bill of Rights: A Brief History). Thomas Jefferson argued: "A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference" (The Bill of Rights: A Brief History). In 1791, inspired by Jefferson and drafted by James Madison the Bill of Rights was adopted and the first ten amendments became the law of the Land (The Bill of Rights: A Brief History). In the following paragraphs I will discuss that origins and evolution of the Bill of Rights. When the Bill of Rights was first implemented, only the federal government was held to those standards (Dautrich and Yalof 77). The 1833 case of Barron v. Baltimore is a prime example of individual rights and civil liberties being deprived. John Barron sued the city of Baltimore for financial losses after the corporation of Craig & Barron diverted the course of some streams. These diverted streams became full after violent rains, carrying sand and soil into the Baltimore harbor, depriving Barron of the deep waters (Barron v. Mayor). Chief Justice Marshall dismissed the case, stating the Bill of Rights only restricted the federal government and it was up to the state constitutions to limit their powers (Miranda). This dismissal reduced the Bill of Rights to empty promises and gave states increased power over citizens. The civil rights and liberties the Bill of Rights provided were not enforced at the state level in the late-eighteen and early-nineteenth century because they were understood to only apply to …show more content…
When Congress passed the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, it appeared the Bill of Rights would be enforced on the states using the privileges and the immunities clause (Incorporation (Bill of Rights)). However, during The Slaughter-house Cases, the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the privileges and immunities clause was it only protected the rights of national citizenship from state governments (Slaughter-House Cases). Under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Bill of Rights finally began being incorporated at the state level.
Examples of selective incorporation of the Bill of Rights are the Gitlow v. New York case, freedom of speech (Dautrich and Yalof 77); Near v. Minnesota case, freedom of the press (Dautrich and Yalof 77); Cantwell v. Connectict case freedom of religion (Dautrich and Yalof 77); and Mapp v. Ohio, Gideon v. Wainwright and Miranda v. Arizona which incorporated several rights of accused criminals (Dautrich and Yalof 77). It wasn’t until 1962 when most provisions of the Bill of Rights were finally incorporated to all states (Incorporation (Bill of