Author: Chris A

The Sixth Amendment is a guidebook, detailing how our God-given rights are protected during criminal prosecutions. Defendants are guaranteed a speedy trial by an impartial jury of their peers. They are also entitled to confront and cross-examine witnesses, known as the Confrontation Clause, and they have the right to call their own witnesses.

The Fifth Amendment, bundles several significant rights and protections, among them: the right against self-incrimination, the protection against being tried twice for the same offense, the right to just compensation if the government seizes your property, and the rights of due process under the law.

Under the British crown, the colonials were subject to virtually limitless searches and seizures under what was called a “general warrant.” By 1780, four years after the founders declared independence, a total of eight states banned general warrants. After the Constitution came into force in 1789, the young nation ratified the Fourth Amendment two years later.

After the Boston Tea Party (1773), the British crown imposed heavy penalties on the colonies. The colonials referred to these strictures as the Intolerable Acts. One, the Quartering Act of 1774, stipulated that the colonials had to pay for the quarters of British troops. Further, if the local barracks didn’t have enough space, the townsmen had to provide the troops with lodgings, even in private homes. 

The Second Amendment, guaranteeing our right to self-defense — not only against outlaws (the right to bear arms and to use those arms for lawful purposes including self-defense) but also those who would seek to use the power of the state against us.

The first amendment not only acknowledges man’s God-given right to exercise his religion and express himself freely, it also empowers citizens in the ongoing struggle against the onset of tyranny. To be free, Americans must stand in eternal vigilance on the side of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.