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The Bill of Rights
According to Lewis (35), the US Bill of Rights constitutes the first ten amendments of the
US constitution that prohibit the powers of the federal government. Written by James Madison,
the Bill of Rights seeks to offer constitutional protection for the personal freedom and liberty of
the US citizens. In addition to these personal freedoms, the Bill of Rights limits governmental
powers in controlling judicial proceedings, with a reserve of specific powers to the public and
individual states. Therefore, the Bill of Rights presents the US citizens with freedoms that were
demystified in the principal Constitution, and transfers to the states or the citizens, any power
that the main constitution does not grant to the federal government (Lewis 38).
In the Bill of Rights, provisions bestowed upon states or individuals limit the power of
the federal government (Levi 215). To start with, most of the amendments address the provisions
about the people, and this paper looks at just a few of them. The first amendment of the Bill of
Rights warrants freedoms of individuals in terms of religion, assembly, the right to expression,
and petition. It limits the Congress from taking sides on religion, or controlling an individual’s
religious beliefs. The amendment requires the Congress to allow people to speak freely, to
promote a free press, and to permit peaceful assemblies of the citizens. The second amendment
allows people to own firearms for their self-defense. The fourth amendment prohibits the powers
of the federal government to forcibly search and seize properties of the citizens. This amendment
backs the requirements of the privacy law, and condemns arbitrary citizen arrests. The Fifth
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Amendment protects individuals undergoing hearings of criminal cases, from self-incrimination,
through a guarantee of trial with various (Levi 228).
Conversely, it is notable that provisions of the Bill of Rights to the states are mainly
addressed in the tenth amendment. According to the tenth amendment, any power that the US
Constitution does not grant to the federal government, are a reservation of the states or the
Citizens (Alderman and Caroline 102). This amendment serves to allow every state to have its
own laws regarding taxes, police powers, and regulations on wage and hour laws. Hence, it is in
order to assert that the provisions of the Bill of Rights about individuals limit the powers of the
national federal government more than the provisions about the states.
The provisions of the Bill of Rights about individuals require neutrality of the
government on all issues regarding the law (Hunter 42). It appears more like the people have the
