The Amendments of the Bill of Rights essays

The Amendments of the Bill of Rights essays The Bill of Rights, consisting of ten amendments, was ratified into the constitution in the year 1791. The document's purpose was to spell out the liberties of the people that the government could not infringe upon. Considered necessary by many at the time of its development, the Bill of Rights was written to protect U.S. citizens from abuse of power that may be committed by the different areas of their government. It does this by expressing clear restrictions on the three branches of government laid out previously in the Constitution. Each amendment either states what the government cannot do or limits its powers by providing certain procedures that it must abide by. The Bill of Rights expresses civil liberties-liberties that are for the people and states that the government cannot take action that would go against or infringe upon on these rights. The First Amendment guarantees the people the freedom of expression, which includes the freedoms of religion, speech, press, and assembly, as well as the right "to petition the government for a redress of grievances." The original reason for adopting the First Amendment was that the first settlers who came to the Americas in search of religious toleration and political asylum wanted to make sure that injustices would never happen again. The Second Amendment is the right to bear arms. This amendment was added to the Bill of Rights so that Congress could not pass laws to disarm state militias. The Third Amendment is the prohibition against the quartering of troops in private homes. The Fourth, Fifth and Sixth amendments all protect a person who is a suspect in crime from being treated unfairly. The Fourth Amendment prevents against unlawful search and seizure. It prevents police and other government officials from searching people's homes, offices, and from seizing their property wit hout reasonable grounds to believe that a crime has been committed. The Fifth Amendment has five important p...