Summarize the historical origins and political importance of the Bill of Rights.

While understanding the historical origins of the Bill of Rights helps us understand their significance in the American political system, it is even more important to understand how the rights and liberties enumerated in the Bill of Rights have been interpreted and applied in the more than two centuries since they were adopted. While the Congress and the president have, at various times, claimed to have Constitutional authority to interpret and shape the Bill of Rights, the Supreme Court has played the most significant role in doing so. Indeed, it has been the Supreme Court, empowered by the “equal protection” clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, that has gradually applied the Bill of Rights to the states. This process is often referred to as “selective incorporation.” To date, the Court has required state and local governments to comply with all of the provisions of the Bill of Rights except the Second, Third, and Seventh Amendments, and the grand jury requirement of the Fifth Amendment.

As you read about various aspects of the Bill of Rights, you will read about several Supreme Court decisions that have shaped our understanding of them and the way they have been applied and enforced in America’s political history.

 

     

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