The Bill of Rights was ratified in 1778 assuring the rights of liberty to an individual - all individuals.

Consisting of the first 10 articles of the Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America, The Bill of Rights especially emphasizes the first eight of the 10 articles.

What is the significance of the Bill of Rights for people and states? What does it offer? What consists of the Bill of Rights?

First, number 1 of the Bill of Rights amendment protects US citizens by giving civil liberties with regards to religion, speech, freedom of the press, assembly, and petition. The 2^nd Bill of Rights amendment justifies the individual's right to possess arms. The 3^rd amendment is against coercive invasion of homes as quarters for troops.

Amendments 4-8 are called procedural rights (which are rights while undergoing due process). Provision number 4 for instance gives a citizen rights against unreasonable searches and seizure of anything that could be used against him. Number 5 of the amended Bill of Rights guarantees that citizens have the right against self-incrimination. Number 6 of the Amendment upholds rights of notification about the nature of an accusation to him, and the procuring of both favorable and unfavorable witnesses, as well as for the call to counsel's / lawyer's assistance for defense. Number 7 - when the case is a civil one, gives rights to a trial by jury for a fair hearing. And last of the 5 procedural rights, amendment number 8 - protects the individual from being inflicted with too harsh punishments and unreasonably high fines and bail.

The last two (9 &10) only generalizes that any other rights currently not mentioned in the Constitution's Bill of Rights will "belong" to the people and local states instead of the federal government.

The Bill of Rights was highly debated in 1788 upon ratification of the Constitution. The Constitution would never be complete if there were no Bill of Rights. The Constitution summarized all the powers of the government, but the Bill of Rights - that of the individual. The Bill of Rights was made and meant to secure all citizens against an overpowering federal government.

~Ae Dechavez

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