THE BILL OF RIGHTS AND THE 14TH AMENDMENT
TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
Congress shall make
no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press;
or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to
petition the Government
for a redress of grievances.
AMENDMENT II
A well regulated
Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,
the right of the
people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
AMENDMENT III
No Soldier shall,
in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the
consent of the Owner,
nor in time of war, but in a manner to be
prescribed by law.
AMENDMENT IV
The right of the
people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and
effects, against
unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,
and no Warrants
shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath
or affirmation,
and particularly describing the place to be searched, and
the persons or things
to be seized.
AMENDMENT V
No person shall
be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous
crime, unless on
a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in
cases arising in
the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual
service in time
of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject
for the same offence
to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall
be compelled in
any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be
deprived of life,
liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall
private property
be taken for public use, without just compensation.
AMENDMENT VI
In all criminal
prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy
and public trial,
by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the
crime shall have
been committed, which district shall have been previously
ascertained by law,
and to be informed of the nature and cause of the
accusation; to be
confronted with the witnesses against him; to have
compulsory process
for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the
Assistance of Counsel
for his defence.
AMENDMENT VII
In Suits at common
law, where the value in controversy shall exceed
twenty dollars,
the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact
tried by a jury,
shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United
States, than according
to the rules of the common law.
AMENDMENT VIII
Excessive bail shall
not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor
cruel and unusual
punishments inflicted.
AMENDMENT IX
The enumeration
in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be
construed to deny
or disparage others retained by the people.
AMENDMENT X
The powers not delegated
to the United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it
to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to
the people.
The first ten amendments,
which make up the so-called Bill of Rights,
were designed to
calm the fears of the mild opponents of the
Constitution in
its original form. The amendments were proposed to
the state legislatures
by the first Congress that assembled under the
Constitution in
1789 and were ratified in 1791. Some of the framers
had argued that
the Bill of Rights was not necessary since the
national government
did not in any case have the power to do what
was expressly forbidden
in the proposed amendments.
AMENDMENT XIV
Section 1. All persons
born or naturalized in the United States, and
subject to the jurisdiction
thereof, are citizens of the United States and of
the State wherein
they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law
which shall abridge
the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United
States; nor shall
any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property,
without due process
of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction
the equal protection
of the laws.
Section 2. Representatives
shall be apportioned among the several States
according to their
respective numbers, counting the whole number of
persons in each
State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to
vote at any election
for the choice of electors for President and Vice
President of the
United States, Representatives in Congress, the
Executive and Judicial
officers of a State, or the members of the
Legislature thereof,
is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State,
being twenty-one
years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any
way abridged, except
for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the
basis of representation
therein shall be reduced in the proportion which
the number of such
male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male
citizens twenty-one
years of age in such State.
Section 3. No person
shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress,
or elector of President
and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or
military, under
the United States, or under any State, who, having
previously taken
an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the
United States, or
as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive
or judicial officer
of any State, to support the Constitution of the United
States, shall have
engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or
given aid or comfort
to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote
of two-thirds of
each House, remove such disability.
Section 4. The validity
of the public debt of the United States, authorized
by law, including
debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for
services in suppressing
insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.
But neither the
United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt
or obligation incurred
in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United
States, or any claim
for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such
debts, obligations
and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Section 5. The Congress
shall have power to enforce, by appropriate
legislation, the
provisions of this article.