The Anti-federalists pushed for the Bill of right to be included in the U.S. Constitution to attempt preventing an overbearing central government. The Constitution created by the Federalists was claimed to be written by aristocrats withholding rights to personal liberties of the people. Anti-Federalists feared that this might lead to an aristocratic tyranny where power would be held only by those with time, power, and wealth (Shelley, Schmidt, & Bardes, 2015). While Anti-Federalists were against such strong powers of the central government, they agreed that certain aspects of states’ governments should be equally upheld through federal legislation. The Anti-federalists believed implementing higher national power under the correct guidelines
…show more content…
The argument by the federalists against a bill of rights was that the powers not granted to the national government were held up by the states and people within them. While this was true, many states called for greater constitutional protection of individuals placing specific prohibitions on government power. In compliance to these requests James Madison tried to make appropriate changes directly to the Constitution itself, but was not given the authority to change its wording. As a result Madison’s addition was brought forth as a list of amendments to be approved by the government ( ENGAGE, 2011). The states quickly ratified ten of these liberty protecting amendments which became known as the Bill of Rights. Some of the most important civil liberties outlined by the Bill of Rights are freedom of press, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to bear …show more content…
Once the Bill of Rights incorporation was in place there have been numerous occasions of the Supreme Court upholding our civil liberties against the government. One example of such a case was Roe v. Wade in 1973 protecting a woman’s right to receive and abortion. In this case the Supreme Court declared that a woman’s constitutionally protected right to privacy includes the right to have an abortion. While upholding the freedom of women’s rights, they create a more concrete line declaring that states cannot restrict the right to an abortion during the first three months of pregnancy. A second case of the Supreme Court protecting our liberties comes up in 1925 in the Gitlow V. New York case. The ruling was such that state government cannot infringe on our freedom of speech. A third example of the Supreme Court defending our rights was in the case of Engel V. Vitale. The issue concerned the use of the “Regent’s Prayer” in New York public schools. In this case the Supreme Court ruled that it is no business of the government to compose official prayers for any group of American people to recite(Shelley, Schmidt, & Bardes,
The argument by the federalists against a bill of rights was that the powers not granted to the national government were held up by the states and people within them. While this was true, many states called for greater constitutional protection of individuals placing specific prohibitions on government power. In compliance to these requests James Madison tried to make appropriate changes directly to the Constitution itself, but was not given the authority to change its wording. As a result Madison’s addition was brought forth as a list of amendments to be approved by the government ( ENGAGE, 2011). The states quickly ratified ten of these liberty protecting amendments which became known as the Bill of Rights. Some of the most important civil liberties outlined by the Bill of Rights are freedom of press, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to bear …show more content…
Once the Bill of Rights incorporation was in place there have been numerous occasions of the Supreme Court upholding our civil liberties against the government. One example of such a case was Roe v. Wade in 1973 protecting a woman’s right to receive and abortion. In this case the Supreme Court declared that a woman’s constitutionally protected right to privacy includes the right to have an abortion. While upholding the freedom of women’s rights, they create a more concrete line declaring that states cannot restrict the right to an abortion during the first three months of pregnancy. A second case of the Supreme Court protecting our liberties comes up in 1925 in the Gitlow V. New York case. The ruling was such that state government cannot infringe on our freedom of speech. A third example of the Supreme Court defending our rights was in the case of Engel V. Vitale. The issue concerned the use of the “Regent’s Prayer” in New York public schools. In this case the Supreme Court ruled that it is no business of the government to compose official prayers for any group of American people to recite(Shelley, Schmidt, & Bardes,