"An amendment, in law, is an alteration or correction in any process, pleading, or proceeding at law or in equity."" (The World Book, 407) The proposed amendment then becomes a law after being ratified in ¾ of all the states. The Constitution was written as the basic rights of our land. The Bill of Rights was proposed on September 5th, 1789. On December 15th , 1791, the Bill of Rights were ratified and added to the United States Constitution. James Madison and Alexander Hamilton wrote the Constitution's Bill of Rights. The United States Constitution has a preamble, 27 amendments, and 7 articles. It was signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. "The 1789 Bill of Rights was, unsurprisingly, a creature of its time."" (Amar, A. 257) The Bill of Rights was adopted because many states refused to approve the Constitution unless the Bill of Rights was added. It was also written in order to replace the Articles of Confederation because they were not of national interest, only state. Still, many people fought over the Bill of Rights claiming at gave too many rights and powers. It is a unique document because it is capable of being changed by the people and reflecting the opinions of them and of which the time they lived. The Bill of Rights explains our basic freedoms as people living in the United States: freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of press, freedom of petition, separation of church and state, no unreasonable search and seizure, right to bear arms, no excessive bail, and no cruel and unusual punishment. Many people were worried about the Constitution when it was first introduced. Worried it did not protect the individual rights of the people in this country. "The Constitution was the first document in all of history to limit the powers of the government."" (Rice, 59) The first amendment protects you in our cyber world today just as it would on the streets. There are some things that limit these rights: libel, sexual harassment, harassment in general, slander, copyright ignorance, and porn.
