Individual rights are the oldest and most traditional of American value.? (ACLU, 1997) The Bill of Rights is a document consisting of the Constitution's first ten amendments. The first eight of these amendments specify certain basic freedoms and safeguards we as citizens hold. They protect the people from wrongdoings or unjust acts committed toward them by the federal government. The Government, due to these amendments, cannot change or interfere with these rights. .
Ancient Greeks and Romans created many of the basic ideas used in the Bill of Rights (Lowi & Ginsberg 1998). The United States Constitution was adopted in 1788, but a number of prominent Americans were alarmed at the omission of individual liberties in the proposed constitution.? (Early America, 2001) Both James Madison and Thomas Jefferson fought over the acceptance of these views. It was James Madison, though, that helped pass the first ten amendments. On September 25, 1789, the First Congress of the United States therefore proposed to the state legislatures 12 amendments to the Constitution that met arguments most frequently advanced against it. The first two proposed amendments, which concerned the number of constituents for each Representative and the compensation of Congressmen, were not ratified. Articles 3 to 12, however, ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures, to constitute the first 10 amendments of the Constitution.? (National Archives, 1998) These soon came to be known as the Bill of Rights, and was put into effect on December 15,1791. The Constitution as it was first written and given to the states for ratification contained provisions for civil liberties, which covered everyone. It also set up a powerful national government. The thirteen states were asked to ratify the Constitution wanting a list of individual rights, as each state had in its constitution. The states would not ratify the Constitution unless a Bill of Rights was included.