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Nicky Palmer

Ms. Diane Nicoll

8th Grade History

October 27, 2017

The Constitution and the Bill of Rights

Did you know that without the Bill of Rights the Military could take over your home and

eat all of your food, or a police officer could search your car for no reason? The Bill of Rights

gives citizens rights that were not specified in the Constitution and the Constitution makes sure

the government does not collapse. The Constitution divides the government into three branches

and each branch has powers that are regulated by the other branches. The Bill of Rights is a

document that has a list of rights that were added to the Constitution after it was written. In the

Constitution and the Bill of Rights there are fundamental liberties that were relevant when the

Constitution and the Bill of Rights were written, which are still relevant now, and will be

relevant in the future. Many important American documents discuss this relevance.

One such document is the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Constitution describes three

branches of the government. One of the branches is the Legislative branch. “Established by

Article I of the Constitution, the Legislative Branch consists of the House of Representatives and

the Senate, which together form the United States Congress. The Constitution grants Congress

the sole authority to enact legislation and declare war, the right to confirm or reject many

Presidential appointments, and substantial investigative powers” (“The Legislative Branch”).

Another branch is the Executive branch. The Executive branch is the President and the Vice

President. The president is responsible for enforcing and implementing the laws made by the
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Legislative branch. The final branch is the Judicial branch. The Judicial branch is made up of the

Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has the power to interpret laws, determine the

constitutionality of laws, and apply them to individual court cases. But the Constitution was not

perfect, so the Bill of Rights was written to make an attempt to improve the Constitution.

The improvements the Bill of Rights made were in the form of the 10 Amendments. The

Bill of Rights grants the people other rights that were not stated in the Constitution. The first

three Amendments are “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. 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. 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” (Cornell Law Staff). The fourth through sixth Amendments state that the

government cannot search people’s property without probable cause or a search warrant, people

have the right to not incriminate themselves, and people have the right to speedy trial. The

seventh through ninth Amendments state that people have the right to a jury of their peers,

people have the right to not be cruelly punished, and the government cannot pass laws that

interfere with people’s rights. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights have significant liberties

that are relevant throughout different time periods.

In the Constitution and the Bill of Rights there are fundamental liberties that were

relevant when the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were written, that are relevant now, and

that will be relevant in the future. “The framers knew it wasn’t a perfect document. However, as
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Benjamin Franklin said on the closing day of the convention in 1787: “I agree to this

Constitution with all its faults, if they are such, because I think a central government is necessary

for us… I doubt too whether any other Convention we can obtain may be able to make a better

Constitution”” (History.com Staff). Some of the liberties that are relevant today are people have

the right to express whatever they want, the government is split into three branches, and all

people have equal opportunity. Some liberties that will be relevant in the future are each branch

of the government checks the other branches, people have the right to a fair trial, and people

have the unalienable right to the pursuit of happiness.

In conclusion the Constitution was written to improve upon the government because the

government was not very good at controlling the states and the Bill of Rights was written to

improve upon the Constitution because the Constitution was not very specific about the rights of

the people. ​List the rights in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. The Constitution divides the

government into three branches. These branches each have powers but they balance the power

that each branch has so that no one branch gets too powerful. The Bill of Rights is a list of

amendments in the Constitution that gives citizens more rights. In the Constitution and the Bill of

Rights there are liberties that were significant when they were written, significant in the present,

and will be significant in the future. Those were the powers and liberties in the Constitution and

Bill of Rights.
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Works Cited

History.com Staff. “The U.S. Constitution.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009,

www.history.com/topics/constitution#.

Staff, LII. “Bill of Rights.” LII / Legal Information Institute, 12 Nov. 2009,

www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/billofrights.

“The Legislative Branch.” The White House, The United States Government, 8 Mar. 2017,

www.whitehouse.gov/1600/legislative-branch.