Bill Of Rights Of The United States (1956)

thanks to the Federal Constitution a body of law that offers protection to all citizens against the tyrannies that have hairy men down through the ages [Music] these journeys prevail wherever some men deny to others the freedom to speak their minds [Music] wherever some nz5 others of the freedom to worship as they choose wherever some men judge others without regard for justice [Music] wherever some men use force without them to deprive other men of their liberties or their lives wherever the personal liberties of men are denied there is no fleet this is the Sibyl asserted in the Bill of Rights Granna personal liberty basic to democracy but on through history men have had a constant struggle to make these from part of the law of the land in England in the 17th century there was little freedom of speech or religion but men were in revolt against the tyranny of Charles the first one such was william prynne the far Lord that's for me no your chip I plead guilty to no crime mine is the right to speak right as I chew to the greater glory of God you deny me my rights even the right to a just trial by a jury of my peers your honors you imagine those outside would have me condemned for this close the window the sound of the rattle interferes of our work dan poses to friend well I had thought that the prin had no ears but methinks he does have ear true but it is certain they can be crop boy closely my Lords that is never a one among your honors but would be sorry to have your ears at mine are no matter I condemn you to lose your ears in a palace yard to be fine five thousand pounds till he set to perpetual imprisonment in a remote place in the kingdom and I condemn you to be stigmatized in the cheeks with two letters s and L for seditious libel ah [Music] it's a phazon courage to stand up for the freedom of men to speak and worship as they choice but there were men to make the struggle men defiant even under terrible to race I praised the Lord was for the general good the liberty of you all that I have engaged my own liberties in his cause if you but knew and to what times you are cast you would look more narrowly into your privileges and see how Phi or Liberty did lawfully extend and so maintain it the King used worthless measures against the Puritans another Englishmen were coming to believe as printed and these measures fail to stem the fury of the revolutions that established civil liberties in England at this time in America men were fighting the same battle in every colony they struck out for the right to worship and speak and govern themselves in ways of their own choosing in town meetings and colonial assemblies they fought for the personal freedoms they believed belong to every man as a god-given right a victory for freedom of religion was the Toleration Act adopted in Maryland in 1649 and in New York in 1734 came the first great contest over the freedom of the press this was in the trial of John Peter Zenger immigrant German printing singer had been bold enough to attack the royal governor in his newspapers his only crime was his courageous and telling exposure of the governor's corruption but the judges were determined to convict him for libel singer was defended by William Hamilton who based his case on freedom of the press gentlemen of the court gentlemen of the jury it is a privilege I will go Father it is a right which all free men claim to complain when they are hurt publicly to remonstrate against abuses of power to put their neighbours upon their guard against crap their open violence of men and authority and to assert with courage the sense they feel of the blessings of liberty this is not the cause of a poor printer nor of New York alone which you are now trying no it is the best cause it is the cause of liberty despite the resistance of the judges the jury has the courage to acquit Sanger this bold decision led the way to a free press in America for years the struggle for men's liberties went on throughout the colonies till the last the American people rose in rebellion against the king and Parliament this was a contest for self-government but too many Americans it also became a struggle for the rights of man in the turbulent decade from the uprising against the Stamp Act so the occupation of Boston by British troops the colonists drifted into rebellion till suddenly the Minutemen who stood on the green at Lexington and braved the British at Concord bridge changed rebellion into a war for independence in 1776 the colonies declared their separation from the British crown in Virginia and other colonies conventions were called to draw constitutions creating new governments among the leaders of the revolution in Virginia was Thomas Jefferson he like many Americans had come to believe that the protection of human liberties was the true purpose of all governed I see mr. Barkley you find these propositions distasteful yes mr. Jefferson mr. Mason I cannot accept them then that is reconcile our differences I believe we agree that the new Virginia Constitution must embody a bill of rights I can promise you mr. Jefferson there will be a bill of rights well and good mr. Mason but mr. Jefferson this matter about freedom of religion is it why not wise perhaps but necessary but you open the door to atheists to disbelievers perhaps but the legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God it neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg and freedom of religion is the key to freedom of all opinion so I fear and I tell you gentlemen I have a the thought of government indifferent to error of opinion but you are wrong sir it is error alone that needs the support of government truth can stand by itself subjective in inversion whom will you make your inquisitors strange that you gentlemen men of substance and owners of slaves should embrace a doctrine so counter to your interest but the doctrine is sound Jefferson saw in the revolution a chance to make these liberties secure the convention meant to frame a constitution for the new free state of Virginia through the efforts of Jefferson and Mason it adopted a bill of rights the bill contained T's of freedom of religion and freedom of the press and affirmed the principles of due process of law a few weeks later in Philadelphia the Continental Congress gave to Jefferson the task of drafting the Declaration of Independence Jefferson made this document the most eloquent Declaration of the Rights of Man ever written in its preamble he asserted in ringing phrases the beliefs about human freedom that had come to be the aims of the revolution we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness in these words Jefferson rallied his countrymen to a struggle for human rights in the years of the war that followed Americans were to prove again and again that men would fight against oppression if they believed they were fighting for their rights as men and a citizen through all these years of bloody conflict the devotion of mental freedom served to build a national strength and security when victory came the Patriots went home expecting to build a nation founded on principles of human liberty in 1787 the convention meant to frame a federal constitution the words of the Declaration of Independence Stillwell is founding in the minds of men some of the delegates insisted that a bill of rights be written into the Constitution others believe these rights were already well protected by the states this was to become the major issue in the struggle over adoption yes mr. Madison you are raising up a power that is more terrible than the tyranny we so recently overthrew your Constitution we'll have too much of a centralizing tendency well I cannot agree sir for it is neither wholly federal not wholly national but something a both I tell you this centralizing tendency as far from strong enough to suit my taste mr. Mason the you would have monarchy mr. Hamilton I fear that we shall have it even with this what protection does your Constitution offer for the people's liberties yes where is the Bill of Rights we must have some assurance that the people's rightful freedoms will remain secure but why the people surrender nothing in the Constitution they retain everything and so have no need of particular reservation besides it does contain safeguards of personal liberty in the Courts of Justice and other personal rights that citizens are guarded by the Constitution's of the states that is no guarantee and no protection against an overbearing central power no sir and perhaps there is no protection possible when it last the delegates gathered to sign their names to the draft of the Constitution it contains no bill of rights the convention had adopted certain guarantees of due process of law but it failed to put in other guarantees of personal liberty Mason and governor Randolph of Virginia Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts and other delegates refused to sign the document they fear that without a bill of rights the Constitution might lead to tyrannical government they went home to launch a fierce attack against adoption public easing ran high in Massachusetts the convention called to ratify the Constitution was against it the delegates fear that it would lead to rule by the wealthy and property classes to overcome this opposition the Friends of the Constitution offered a compromise they proposed that the convention demand that a bill of rights be added by amendment this gained ratification in Massachusetts resolved further that this convention recommend the drafting of a bill of rights to be incorporated in a set of amendments to be ratified by the several states but the outlook for ratification was still dark in a number of states the Federalist leaders labored vigorously to win the people over to the new principles of government what do you say to this language mature Hamilton the proposed Constitution is in strictest either a national nor a Federal Constitution but a composition of both Kien argument mr. Madison but the little use everyone read the Federalist Papers but few are persuaded by them you're right I hear certainly governor Clinton in his section are going to make things hot for you in New York and there's a dangerous demagogue but we will defeat him even if we have to threaten to withdraw the city of New York from the rest of the state I regret that we have no such weapon as that in Virginia yes Virginia is in danger too with both Mason and old Patrick Henry thundering against us and Henry cannot be won over he called the Constitution a conspiracy to set up a monarchy a firebrand how will you answer it as I see it there is not one workable answer and that's the one reached in Massachusetts for listing every state must agree to a Bill of Rights I suppose it is but it will not win over such men as Clinton and Henry no but it offers us our last best chance to save the Constitution Madison's proposal brought about the adoption of the Constitution by a narrow margin and Madison kept to his purpose when the new government was formed he became a member of Congress his leadership one of the first tasks of the Congress was to prepare a set of amendments to the Constitution Madison drew together the resolutions of the conventions and the Bills of Rights in the Constitution's of the various states then he drafted a set of 12 amendments embodying the essential guarantees of personal liberty ten of these amendments were ratified by the Congress and the states these became the American Bill of Rights the charter of personal liberty Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting or abridging the freedom of speech or the practice or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances these are the principles of freedom these are goals for which men must constantly do battle for wherever some men destroy the freedom of others to speak their minds wherever some men sit in judgment on other men without regard for justice wherever men use force without limit to deprive other men of their liberties or their lives here there is a need to fight for freedom in today's world as in other times citizens may well heed the warning of long ago if you put new into what times you are cast it would look more narrowly into your privileges and see how by your Liberty did lawfully