Post by Admin on Jun 14, 2015 13:50:10 GMT -5
In all my years in the legal system, one thing that many people seem confused about is, what is the difference between our Constitutional Rights and The Bill of Rights.
Let's start with a short history of how and why the Bill of Rights came to be.
The Anti-Federalists passionately fought for, and won, a Bill of Rights. They believed that only if these enumerated rights were staunchly and explicitly protected would the built-in tendencies toward the consolidation of national power in the Constitution be kept in check. The problem is, of course, that the usurpations of power by the Supreme Court and Congress…have either twisted or all but erased the enumerated rights. ...We have become, willingly or unwillingly, the very worst kind of Federalists feared by the Anti-Federalists: complete dependents on an increasingly despotic federal government. —Dr. Benjamin Wiker, from “10 Books Every Conservative Must Read.
Many conservatives think that the foundation of the United States rests on the US Constitution—that the Constitution is the bedrock of our republic. Viva la Constitution!
Not so fast. There is more at play regarding the US Constitution than most of us realize.
Most of us could use some lessons in America 101, and there are perhaps no more important subjects than the US Constitution, and the Bill of Rights
Many Americans don’t realize that the Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments) was not written to supplement the Constitution, so much as to rein-in the Constitution.
The Constitution and Bill of Rights were the result of a compromise between Federalists and Anti-Federalists—between those in favor of a strong national government (Federalists), and those who stressed the sovereignty of the individual states (Anti-Federalists). LINK
The Anti-Federalists were not against the Constitution per se, they were simply fearful (justifiably, it turns out) that after just defeating one tyrannical master, they were about to exchange it for another—a too powerful federal government.
There were mainly two things about the Constitution, that especially bothered the Anti-Federalists: the powers of taxation given to the federal government, and the broad powers given to the federal Legislative and Judicial branches of government. LINK
Let's start with a short history of how and why the Bill of Rights came to be.
The Anti-Federalists passionately fought for, and won, a Bill of Rights. They believed that only if these enumerated rights were staunchly and explicitly protected would the built-in tendencies toward the consolidation of national power in the Constitution be kept in check. The problem is, of course, that the usurpations of power by the Supreme Court and Congress…have either twisted or all but erased the enumerated rights. ...We have become, willingly or unwillingly, the very worst kind of Federalists feared by the Anti-Federalists: complete dependents on an increasingly despotic federal government. —Dr. Benjamin Wiker, from “10 Books Every Conservative Must Read.
Many conservatives think that the foundation of the United States rests on the US Constitution—that the Constitution is the bedrock of our republic. Viva la Constitution!
Not so fast. There is more at play regarding the US Constitution than most of us realize.
Most of us could use some lessons in America 101, and there are perhaps no more important subjects than the US Constitution, and the Bill of Rights
Many Americans don’t realize that the Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments) was not written to supplement the Constitution, so much as to rein-in the Constitution.
The Constitution and Bill of Rights were the result of a compromise between Federalists and Anti-Federalists—between those in favor of a strong national government (Federalists), and those who stressed the sovereignty of the individual states (Anti-Federalists). LINK
The Anti-Federalists were not against the Constitution per se, they were simply fearful (justifiably, it turns out) that after just defeating one tyrannical master, they were about to exchange it for another—a too powerful federal government.
There were mainly two things about the Constitution, that especially bothered the Anti-Federalists: the powers of taxation given to the federal government, and the broad powers given to the federal Legislative and Judicial branches of government. LINK