The Constitution and the Bill of Rights

The Constitution, which came into effect in 1788, defines the powers conferred by the people to the federal government. Shortly after, a set of ten amendments called the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution. It lists the fundamental freedoms and rights of individual citizens. For example:

First Amendment (1791): "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."

Second Amendment (1791): "A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

Some important amendments were added later (they now number 27). For example:

Fourteenth Amendment (1868): Section 1. "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Fifteenth Amendment (1870): Section 1. "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."