Category: Constitutional Amendments 1-10

The Tenth Amendment articulates the principle of federalism, or states’ rights. It states that the federal government has only those powers delegated to it by the Constitution, and that all other governmental powers are reserved to each state.

The Ninth Amendment stems from a debate about the Bill of Rights itself.  After the Revolutionary War, people organized together to develop a new system of government.  While everyone seemed to agree that the freedoms they had just fought so hard to win needed enduring protections, there was a lack of consensus when it came to developing a system of laws that protected every individual’s God-given freedoms, while at the same time achieved security and order.

The Eighth Amendment prevents the federal government and the states (through application of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment) from imposing unjust pre-trial bail against criminal defendants, inflicting brutal or inequitable sentencing schemes, applying inhumane methods of punishment and requires sentences, including fines and forfeited property, be proportionate to convictions.

There are two parts to the Seventh Amendment. First is the Preservation Clause, a provision that grants access to jury trials in federal civil (i.e., non-criminal) cases like discrimination cases, class actions, consumer safety actions, catastrophic personal injury lawsuits, and corporate corruption cases, to name a few. Second is the Re-examination Clause, which establishes that if jurors are impaneled, they are the ultimate fact-finders and best-suited to render reasonable, fair and just resolutions to controversies and disputes.

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.