Bill of Rights
First ten amendments
The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1791, guaranteeing fundamental freedoms such as speech, religion, assembly, and the right to bear arms, along with protections against unreasonable searches and self-incrimination.
More broadly, a bill of rights is any formal declaration of citizens' rights in a constitution or charter: The UN drafted a bill of rights for refugees.
Governing principles document
- ratificationFormal approval by authority
- First AmendmentConstitutional free expression guarantee
- Second AmendmentConstitutional gun rights clause
- Fourth AmendmentSearch and seizure protection
Fifth Amendment · Sixth Amendment · Eighth Amendment · Tenth Amendment · framers · Federalist · enumeration · James Madison
Carry or possess weapons
- militiaNon-professional armed force
- unalienableCannot be taken away
- reserved powersGovernmental abilities kept by states
- sovereigntySupreme independent authority
Absence of unjust constraint
- speechOral communication ability
- pressApply force downward
- assemblyConstructing from components
- religionSystem of spiritual belief
petition · expression · worship · protest · dissent · free exercise · establishment clause · religious liberty
Guaranteed judicial fairness
- jury trialLegal proceeding with citizen panel
- speedy trialTimely court proceeding guaranteed
- legal counselProfessional juridical guidance
- unreasonable searchInvestigation lacking legal authorization
seizure · warrants · self-incrimination · double jeopardy · cruel and unusual punishment · excessive bail · excessive fines · probable cause
Constitution
Governing principles document
- ratificationFormal approval by authority
- First AmendmentConstitutional free expression guarantee
- Second AmendmentConstitutional gun rights clause
Fourth Amendment · Fifth Amendment · Sixth Amendment · Eighth Amendment · Tenth Amendment · framers · Federalist · enumeration · James Madison · parchment
bear arms
Carry or possess weapons
- militiaNon-professional armed force
- unalienableCannot be taken away
- reserved powersGovernmental abilities kept by states
liberty
Absence of unjust constraint
religion · petition · expression · worship · protest · dissent · free exercise · establishment clause · religious liberty · conscience
due process
Guaranteed judicial fairness
- jury trialLegal proceeding with citizen panel
- speedy trialTimely court proceeding guaranteed
- legal counselProfessional juridical guidance
unreasonable search · seizure · warrants · self-incrimination · double jeopardy · cruel and unusual punishment · excessive bail · excessive fines · probable cause · exclusionary rule
- American HistoryAmerican Revolution, Revolutionary War, colonial era, founding fathers, Declaration of Independence
- US HistoryAmerican Revolution, US history, Civil War, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln
- Patriotic Phrasesland of the free, home of the brave, stars and stripes, red white and blue, united we stand
- constitutional lawConstitution, First Amendment, Second Amendment, Fourth Amendment, Fifth Amendment
- English Lawbarristers, solicitors, solicitor, High Court, Crown Court
- Colonial Americanacolonial laws, almanacs, Benjamin Franklin, William Bradford, Thomas Paine
Bill of Rightsmartial law
Armed forces governance
police state · tyranny · authoritarianism · totalitarianism · despotism
Bill of Rightsdivine right of kings
Monarchs rule by celestial mandate
absolute monarchy · autocracy · fascism · dictatorship · statism
right, bill, bills, rights, rightful, rightfully, rightfulness