James Madison: Bill of Rights LIMITS What the People had a right to have!
On this 234th anniversary of our forefathers’ declaration of independence from England this question prevails: What would the Founding Fathers think about the way 21st century America handles the freedoms we enjoy and burdens that come with them?
Is it still the same Constitution they completed in 1787? It’s only been changed 27 times. “The Founding Fathers were very conscious of politics. ... They made some very significant compromises in writing the Constitution ... There was no consensus. These were compromises, just as there would be compromises today,” said Peter Bergerson, a social sciences professor at FGCU who teaches classes on this subject.
In the original Constitution there was little or no discussion of free speech and religion, guns and states rights.
So, after the Constitution was ratified in 1789, James Madison went to work on a Bill of Rights — the first 10 amendments to the Constitution.
Madison, the Father of the Constitution, wanted no part of enumerating these rights in the beginning.
“He thought it was nauseating that there should be a Bill of Rights,” Bergerson said. “His argument was that you would be limiting what the people had a right to have.”