George Mason, a delegate from the state of Virginia, proposed the addition of a Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution that was to be presented for ratification. From Mason’s perspective, outlining the Bill of Rights in the Constitution would give the people greater peace of mind. He also reasoned that preparing the Bill of Rights would take only a few hours. His remarks prompted Elbridge Gerry to propose the appointment of a committee for the preparation of the bill. However, the motion was defeated without any debate by the delegates. It is nonetheless critical to understand that the delegates rejected Mason’s proposal not because they opposed it but for other reasons.
Contrary to popular views, the delegates were not opposed to the principle of a Bill of Rights but rather found it unnecessary, considering that the new Constitution would grant the federal government only enumerated powers. Nonetheless, there was a particular section of the Framers that became skeptical of the utility of parchment barriers against popular opinion, as referred to by James Madison. This section of delegates was concerned with other critical issues, such as structural arrangements that would ensure checks and balances and separation of powers and thus provide protection to citizens.
According to some delegates, it was unnecessary to include a Bill of Rights in the United States Constitution for ratification since most of the states already had some form of guaranteed rights within their constitutions. Others also argued that the delineation of particular rights would set them apart as the only ones reserved for citizens. Nonetheless, Carol Berkin also states a more prosaic reason that informed skepticism among the Framers of the Constitution. According to her, the Framers of the U.S. Constitution had become anxious and were prepared to avoid any more debate that would prolong their stay in the stuffy rooms where they had spent several months in contentious debate. The delegates simply wanted to go home and therefore rejected the proposal.
Part 2
Based on the available evidence, there is no doubt that the Framers of the Constitution deliberately omitted a Bill of Rights. (Library of Congress, n.d.) However, the Bill of Rights was quite important. The Anti-Federalists showed strong antipathy toward a powerful federal government and toward the lack of elaborate measures outlined in the Constitution to protect citizens’ rights. The primary motivations that led to the demand for a Bill of Rights included the belief that each individual had a right to expect such protections from the government. Thus, there was no adequate reason for the Federalists to leave them out of the Constitution. Secondly, the Anti-Federalists also sought changes to include a Bill of Rights to ensure that it would restrain Congress from enacting laws contrary to these rights. Thus, it was a way of giving courts the mandate to check congressional legislation to ensure that it did not violate these rights.
The Anti-Federalists wanted the balance of power to rest in the people’s hands and not in the government’s. They recognized the importance of government in building a cohesive society. However, they wanted to ensure that the government did not become an all-powerful entity that would amass all powers and enslave its citizens. Therefore, they had an intrinsic motivation to document these rights to ensure that the government was not able to interfere with them in any way.
Part 3
The proposed Constitution had limited guarantees of individual rights since the Framers primarily intended to establish a framework that would make the federal government effective and strong. The delegates had failed to adopt any proposals to include several guarantees of rights, such as the freedom of the press proposed by Charles Pinckney. Mason later proposed the inclusion of a Bill of Rights in September 1787, but the proposal did not materialize. Therefore, it was clear that the Constitution did not provide adequate rights and guarantees to citizens, thus leaving them exposed to the mercy of the federal government. This deliberate omission set the stage for opposition to the proposed Constitution by the Anti-Federalists, who argued for the inclusion of a Bill of Rights to protect citizens’ rights against abrogation by the state.
Therefore, the primary basis that led to vehement opposition to the Constitution by the Anti-Federalists was the lack of a Bill of Rights. They alleged some critical deficiencies in the proposed Constitution and thus proposed an amendment that would make the proposed Constitution more acceptable and people-friendly before its ratification and adoption. (U.S. Const. amend. I) One of the major reasons for such critical objection was the considerable power that the national government would derive from the new Constitution. The Anti-Federalists were apprehensive about the balance of power and how the proposed Constitution failed to address power balance and representation in the national government. As a result, they felt disturbed by the inadequate safeguards that the proposed Constitution provided for people’s rights.
Secondly, the Anti-Federalists were convinced that a strong central government, as indicated under the proposed Constitution, would abrogate citizens’ rights. It was the granting of these critical powers to the national government that made states that already had charters with clearly outlined guarantees of rights concerned that such a central government would most likely overturn those guarantees.
Part 4
The major immediate consequence of the passage of the Bill of Rights was that it enabled the United States to have a new Constitution. The 1787 Constitutional Convention proposed major changes regarding governance, government structure, and the powers of each level of government. However, one of the significant proposals within the new Constitution was the transfer of power from state governments and its concentration at the central level. The shift increased fear and worry among the Anti-Federalists, who were numerous at the time. In their minds, absolute powers would turn the federal government into a British-like system that did not respect individual citizens’ rights.
Therefore, the Federalists agreed to attach the Bill of Rights to the Constitution with the main aim of putting these fears to rest. As a consequence, the Bill of Rights prohibited the central government from infringing on the people’s rights. The attachment of the Bill of Rights to the Constitution increased people’s willingness to support the Constitution, thus leading to its ratification. Therefore, it is evident that the inclusion of the Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution enabled the country to have a new Constitution. On the other hand, the Bill of Rights had the long-term consequence of protecting people’s rights from infringement by the central government. It made it impossible for the government to undertake particular activities, such as taking away the freedoms of religion and speech. Therefore, the Bill of Rights has had both long-term and short-term benefits for U.S. citizens.
References
Library of Congress. (n.d.). The Bill of Rights: A transcription. https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights-transcript
U.S. Const. amend. I. https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-1/
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