What did the Bill of Rights not apply to?

Asked by: Ahmed Leuschke IV  |  Last update: August 11, 2025
Score: 4.6/5 (22 votes)

In the 1833 case of Barron v. Baltimore, the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Bill of Rights did not apply to state governments; such protections were instead provided by the constitutions of each state.

Who does the Bill of Rights not apply to?

In the early 19th century, both Congress and the Supreme Court treated the Bill of Rights as applying only to the federal government and not to the states. In the 1833 case Barron v.

What was not protected by the Bill of Rights?

There was no curb against censorship. Women's rights were unprotected. Racial discrimination was open and legal.

Who did the Bill of Rights exclude?

For example, slaves were not considered citizens and therefore did not have the rights and protections outlined in the Bill of Rights. Similarly, women were also excluded from many of the rights and protections afforded by the Bill of Rights, such as the right to vote.

Does the Bill of Rights apply to all levels of government?

However, following the ratification of the 14th Amendment and later decisions by the Supreme Court, the Bill of Rights became a charter of national freedom—applying key Bill of Rights protections (like free speech and religious liberty) to abuses by all levels of government: national, state, and local.

Why wasn’t the Bill of Rights originally in the US Constitution? - James Coll

38 related questions found

Has the Bill of Rights always applied to the states?

Prior to the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment and the development of the incorporation doctrine, the Supreme Court in 1833 held in Barron v. Baltimore that the Bill of Rights applied only to the federal, but not any state, governments.

Which of these is not a part of the Bill of Rights?

Final answer: The option that is not part of the Bill of Rights is the right of males to vote if they paid taxes. This requirement is not included in the original ten amendments. The Bill of Rights focuses on specific protections for individual freedoms and rights, but does not detail voting qualifications.

Does the Bill of Rights support everyone?

The Bill of Rights seemed to be written in broad language that excluded no one, but in fact, it was not intended to protect all the people - whole groups were left out.

What Bill of Rights was rejected?

In 1789, at the time of the submission of the Bill of Rights, twelve pro-were ratified and became the first ten amendments to the Constitution. Proposed Articles I and II were not ratified with these ten, but, in 1992, Article II was proclaimed as ratified, 203 years later.

Does the Bill of Rights apply to states?

After the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Supreme Court, through a string of cases, found that the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth amendment included applying parts of the Bill of Rights to States (referred to as incorporation).

What is missing in the Bill of Rights?

''equality" appears nowhere in either the Constitution or the Bill of. Rights.1. This omission is particularly striking because eighteenth-century. political thought centered on the notion of equality.

Is hate speech illegal in the US?

In the United States, hate speech receives substantial protection under the First Amendment, based upon the idea that it is not the proper role of the government to attempt to shield individuals from ideas and opinions they find unwelcome, disagreeable, or even deeply offensive.

What was the controversy with the Bill of Rights?

The birth of the Bill of Rights was controversial: Anti-Federalists demanded a concise constitution, which clearly delineated the people's rights and the limitations of the power of government. Federalists opposed the inclusion of a bill of rights as unnecessary.

What protects Rights not designated in the Bill of Rights?

The text of the Ninth Amendment reads: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” This provision addresses the need to protect rights not mentioned in the Constitution.

Why was the 14th Amendment considered unsuccessful?

However, the Fourteenth Amendment is often considered unsuccessful because its provisions were not fully protected or enforced. Discrimination by private individuals was not prohibited and the Supreme Court interpreted its powers narrowly.

Who is protected by Bill of Rights?

It spells out Americans' rights in relation to their government. It guarantees civil rights and liberties to the individual—like freedom of speech, press, and religion. It sets rules for due process of law and reserves all powers not delegated to the Federal Government to the people or the States.

Who did the Bill of Rights not apply to?

“For the first century of its existence, the Bill of Rights did not appear in many Supreme Court cases, principally because the Court ruled that it only applied to the national government, and the state governments exercised the most power over citizens' lives,” said Linda Monk, author of “The Bill of Rights: A User's ...

What are the six unratified amendments?

These unratified amendments address the size of the U.S. House (1789), foreign titles of nobility (1810), slavery (1861), child labor (1924), equal rights for women (1972), and representation for the District of Columbia (1978).

What does the Bill of Rights forbid?

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.

Who does the Bill of Rights limit?

The first ten amendments to the Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. James Madison wrote the amendments as a solution to limit government power and protect individual liberties through the Constitution.

Did George Washington approve of the Bill of Rights?

George Washington served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797, but he did not participate in the drafting or ratification of the Bill of Rights.

Does the Bill of Rights only apply to citizens?

Almost all of the Bill of Rights and the US Constitution applies to EVERYONE in the US regardless of citizenship status. There are a very few things that do not apply to everyone, such as voting rights.

Can the bill of rights be changed?

Of course, the Constitution wasn't perfect. It has been amended 27 times, including the Bill of Rights. But every amendment should be a change that brings the document more – not less – in line with our founding principles of individual liberty, personal responsibility and limited government.

Which group was not in favor of a Bill of Rights?

The Federalists felt a Bill of Rights was unnecessary. They said since the new Constitution limited the power of the government and since the people kept control of everything they did not say the government could do, no bill of individual rights was needed.

Who has the power to declare war?

The Constitution grants Congress the sole power to declare war. Congress has declared war on 11 occasions, including its first declaration of war with Great Britain in 1812. Congress approved its last formal declaration of war during World War II.