Bill of Rights

(noun)

A bill of rights is a formal statement of the rights of a specified group of people.

Related Terms

Examples of Bill of Rights in the following topics:

  • The Bill of Rights

    • One of the earliest documents used as a model for drafting the American Bill of Rights was the English Bill of Rights of 1689, one of the fundamental documents of English constitutional law.
    • The English Bill of Rights differed substantially in form and intent from the American Bill of Rights, because it was intended to address the rights of citizens as represented by Parliament against the Crown.
    • Bill of Rights, including the right of petition, an independent judiciary, freedom of speech, freedom from cruel and unusual punishments, and freedom to bear arms.
    • James Madison, "Father of the Constitution" and first author of the Bill of Rights
    • Analyze the origin of the Bill of Rights and its place in early discussions of federal authority

  • The Bill of Rights

    • The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution.
    • However, most state legislatures refused to ratify the Constitution without the addition of a Bill of Rights to the document.
    • He based much of the Bill of Rights on George Mason's Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776), which itself had been written with Madison's input.
    • Portrait of James Madison, "Father of the Constitution" and first author of the Bill of Rights
    • Explain the purpose behind the establishment of the Bill of Rights

  • The Anti-Federalists

    • While individualism and state autonomy were the strong elements of opposition, all anti-federalists also argued for the necessity of a bill of rights to protect individual liberties from federal despotism.
    • Massachusetts would ratify the Constitution with recommended provisions in the ratifying instrument that the Constitution be amended with a bill of rights.
    • The Federalists contended that a conditional ratification would be void, so the recommendation was the strongest support that the ratifying convention could give to a bill of rights short of rejecting the Constitution altogether.
    • Ten of these amendments were immediately ratified and became known as the Bill of Rights, with one of the other two becoming the Twenty-seventh Amendment almost 200 years later.
    • Bill of Rights.

  • The U.S. Constitution

    • Indeed, many state conventions ratified the Constitution with the understanding that a bill of rights would soon follow.
    • The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, drafted by James Madison.
    • One of the earliest documents used as a model for drafting the American Bill of Rights was the English Bill of Rights of 1689, one of the fundamental documents of English constitutional law.
    • In addition to the English Bill of Rights and writings of John Locke, which proclaimed that all men free and equal in a "state of nature" and entitled to certain basic liberties.
    • Finally, another source of inspiration for the Bill of Rights was the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which included provisions that restricted the reach of the government.

  • The Holdouts: Virginia and New York

    • A major issue during the Virginia Ratification Convention was the question of individual rights.
    • Many delegates who were generally in favor of the Constitution were concerned that it did not contain a list of guaranteed rights akin to the celebrated Virginia Declaration of Rights.
    • George Mason argued for the addition of a bill of rights, among other modifications.
    • Many of the ideas presented during this convention were later incorporated into the United States Bill of Rights.
    • Madison rewrote the various state proposals into 12 proposals from Congress as amended, subsequently sending them to the states for ratification as the Bill of Rights.

  • Conclusion: The Development of the Constitution

    • Anti-Federalists united in demanding protection for individual rights, and several states made the passing of a bill of rights a condition of their acceptance of the Constitution.
    • Rhode Island and North Carolina rejected the Constitution because it did not already have this specific bill of rights.
    • Federalists followed through on their promise to add such a bill in 1789, when Virginia Representative James Madison introduced and Congress approved the Bill of Rights.
    • Adopted in 1791, the bill consisted of the first ten amendments to the Constitution and outlined many of the personal rights state constitutions already guaranteed.
    • For women, the right to vote remained out of reach except in the state of New Jersey.

  • The G.I. Bill of Rights

    • The bill was introduced in the House on January 10, 1944, and in the Senate, the following day, both chambers approved their own versions of the bill.
    • Bill, fewer than 100 were taken out by Americans of color.
    • Bill even less effective for Americans of color.
    • Bill prompted the government to offer similar measures to later generations of veterans.
    • Bill to veterans of World War II and veterans of the Korean War.

  • Civil Rights and Voting Rights

    • The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were landmark pieces of legislation that addressed major forms of discrimination.
    • The Civil Rights Act of 1964, enacted on July 2, 1964, was a landmark piece of legislation.
    • The bill would soon be followed by the equally momentous Voting Rights Act, which effectively ended the disenfranchisement of blacks in the South.
    • Never in history had the Senate been able to muster enough votes to cut off a filibuster on a civil rights bill.
    • Examine the passage and significance of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

  • Legislative Change

    • The Civil Rights Act of 1957, primarily a voting rights bill, was the first civil rights legislation enacted by Congress in the United States since the Reconstruction Era following the American Civil War.
    • However, the passage of the bill showed the willingness of national leaders to support, to varying degrees, the cause of civil rights.
    • The Civil Rights Act of 1960 addressed some of the shortcomings of the 1957 act.
    • Historians debate Smith's motivation, whether it was a cynical attempt to defeat the bill by someone opposed to both civil rights for African Americans and women, or an attempt to support their rights by broadening the bill to include women.
    • Analyze the gains and limitations of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, and 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

  • The Healthcare Plan of 1993

    • The Clinton health care plan was a 1993 healthcare reform package proposed by the administration of President Bill Clinton and closely associated with the chair of the task force devising the plan, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.
    • Opponents of the bill organized against it before it was presented to the Democratic-controlled Congress on November 20, 1993.
    • Those further to the right argued that healthcare reform was part of a larger and nefarious plot to control the public.
    • However, even with Mitchell's bill, there were not enough Democratic Senators behind a single proposal to pass a bill, let alone stop a filibuster.
    • Bill Clinton made health care reform one of the highest priorities of his administration.