Amendments to the Constitution

Since 1789 the Constitution has been amended 27 times, most recently in 1992. The first ten amendments were made in 1791, and list basic rights that many people had wanted to include in

the original Constitution, but had left out in order to persuade all the states to ratify it. These amendrnents are together known as the Bill of Rights.Among other things, the Bill of Rights promises citizens the right to free speech (= the right to say what they want without the government trying to stop them), freedom ofreligion, the right not to be arrested or searched without a good reason, and theright of anyone accused of a crime to have a fair trial.

Some changes to the Constitution have been more successful than others. The First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech and religion is an essential principle of American life. The Second Amendment, which gives people the right to carry guns, is now the subject of public debate and many people are opposed to it. The 18th Amendment, passedin 1919, created Prohibition, making it illegal for people to make or buy alcoholic drinks. However, this measure was not successful, and in 1933 the 21st Amendment repealedthe 18th, so that alcohol became legal again.

Some amendments reflect changes in American society. The Constitution was written by white men, mainly to protect their rights. Following the Civil War, the 13th Amendment (1865) and the 15th Amendment (1870) gave the same rights to people of all races. In 1920 the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote. Changing the Constitution requires wide support of people elected to public offices. In the 1970s the Equal Rights Amendment, which said that women had the same rights as men, was passed by Congress but failed to be ratified by the required number of states and so was defeated.

Interpreting the Constitution

In 1803 the Supreme Court made a very important decision in the case Marbury v Madison. The Court said that a law that was relevant to the case went against what was contained in the Constitution. In this way the Supreme Court gave itself the power to decide on the constitutionalityof any law. If theCourt decides that a law is unconstitutional,it cannot be used any more.

Experts have different opinions about how to decide whether a law is constitutionalor not. Some believe it is better to follow exactly what the Constitution says. Others think that it is necessary to consider what was in the minds of the people who wroteit. For instance, the Second Amendment gives people the right to carry guns, and some people say that laws that limit this right are unconstitutional. Others believe that the Amendment was written so that Americans could defend themselves against a possible attack bythe British, and since that is not likely to happen today, laws controlling guns would not go against the intentions ofthe people who wrote the Constitution.

The Bill of Rights

The Constitution has been amended 17 times since 1789, and it is likely to be further revised in the future. The most sweeping changes oc­curred within two years of its adop­tion. In that period, the first 10 amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, were added. Congress approved these amend­ments as a block in September 1789, and 11 states had ratified them by the end of 1791.

Much of the initial resistance to the Constitution came not from those opposed to strengthening the feder­al union but from statesmen who felt that the rights of individuals must be specifically spelled out. One of these was George Mason, author of the Declaration of Rights of Virginia, which was a forerunner of the Bill of Rights. As a delegate to the Consti­tutional Convention, Mason refused to sign the document because he felt it did not protect individual rights sufficiently. Indeed, Mason's opposi­tion nearly blocked ratification by Virginia. Because of similar feelings in Massachusetts, that state conditioned its ratification on the addition of specific guarantees of individual rights. By the time the First Congress convened, sentiment for adoption of such amendments was nearly unanimous, and the Congress lost little time in drafting them.

These amendments remain intact today, as they were written two centuries ago. The first guarantees freedom of worship, speech, and press, the right of peaceful assembly, and the right to petition the government to correct wrongs. The second guarantees the right of citizens to bear arms. The third provides that troops may not be quartered in private homes without the owner’s consent.The fourth guards against unreasonable searches, arrests, and seizures of property.

The next four amendments deal with the system of justice. The fifth forbids trial for a major crime except after indictment by a grand jury. It prohibits repeated trials for the same offense, forbids punishment without due process of law, and provides that an accused person may not be compelled to testify against himself. The sixth guarantees a speedy public trial for criminal offenses. It requires trial by an unbiased jury, guarantees the right to legal counsel for the accused, and provides that witnesses shall be compelled to attend the trial and testify in the presence of the accused. The seventh assures trial by jury in civil cases involving anything valued at more than 20 U.S. dollars. The eighth forbids excessive bail or fines, and cruel or unusual punishment.

The last two of the 10 amendments contain very broad statements of con­stitutional authority. The ninth de­clares that the listing of individual rights is not meant to be comprehen­sive, that the people have other rights not specifically mentioned in the Constitution. The tenth provides that powers not delegated by the Constitution to the federal govern­ment nor prohibited by it to the states are reserved to the states or the people.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 1095