Applying James Madison's Arguement To The Constitution

After the Constitution was written in 1787, many believed that the new government would still be giving too much power to the people running it instead of to the people. A group lead by Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, and James Monroe called the Anit-Federalists went against the Constitution because they believed it gave too many powers to congress and did not specify enough human rights. They also believed that the checks and balances system will fair and the executive brach will turn into a monarchy. In fear that the states would not ratify the Constitution, James Madison composed a bill of nine articles of 20 amendments that limited power to congress to be added to the Constitution on July 8, 1789. Twelve of these were selected by congress …show more content…
Although some believe that it violates the 8th amendment that forbids any cruel and unusual punishment, but the only crimes that are punishable by death are espionage, terrorism, treason, large scale drug trafficking, federal murder, or attempt to kill a witness, juror, or anyone affiliated with the trial. The 8th amendment was originally used to prevent judges from making bails based of biased decisions and opinions. It also prevented cruel and unusual punishment from being placed for crimes that aren 't as harsh as they might be punished for. Since it is not clear on what it means by “cruel and unusual,” the dismissal of the death penalty cannot be justified by the 8th Amendment without a more clear, concise definition. Some of the amendments might be a little out dated and aren 't put to use in modern times. For example, the 3rd Amendment states,”No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a manner to be prescribed by law.” This was mainly applied when colonists were forced to house British soldiers prior to the American Revolution to make sure everyone was paying taxes, following the laws, and to prevent a