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● Articles
of Confederation
● Constitution
● Legislative
Branch
● Executive
Branch
● Judicial
Branch
● Checks and Balances
● Bill
of Rights
● Political Parties
Bill of Rights
 To
all Americans, another basic foundation in their constitution is
the Bill of Rights, adopted in 1791. This consists of 10 very short
paragraphs which guarantee freedom and individual rights and forbid
interference with lives of individuals by the government. Each paragraph
is an Amendment to the original Constitution.
In
the Bill of Rights, Americans are guaranteed freedom of religion,
of speech and of the press. They have the right to assemble
in public places, to protest government actions and to demand change.
They have the right to own weapons if they wish. Because of the
Bill of Rights, neither police nor soldiers can stop and search
a person without good reason. They also cannot search a person's
home without legal permission
from a court.
The
Bill of Rights guarantees Americans the right to a speedy trial
if accused
of a crime. The trial must be by a jury
and the accused person must be allowed representation by a lawyer
and must be able to call in witnesses to speak for him or her. Cruel
and unusual punishment is forbidden.
There
were 16 other amendments to the Constitution as of 1991. The changes
are not many considering that the Constitution was written in 1787.
Only a few need to be mentioned here. One forbids slavery and three
others guarantee citizenship and full rights of citizenship to all
people regardless of race. Another gives women the right to vote
and another lowered the national voting age to 18 years.
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