the hypothesis that a man's natural rights only amounted to the .
quantity of power he can exercise over any other man. A more general .
and logical definition of a right is a claim upheld by the law, in .
which case the Bill of Rights becomes important (Benn 195).
Although the Constitution originally did not contain the Bill .
of Rights, the states threatened to delay ratification until the .
amendments were made. The main purpose of implementing the first ten .
amendments to the United States Constitution, was to safeguard .
fundamental individual rights against seizure by the federal .
government and prohibit interference with existing rights. The.
Revolutionary War with Britain was still quite clear in the American .
mind during the writing of the Constitution, so the Bill of Rights had .
full support of the public because it protected citizens against .
everything which had angered the colonists about the British (Holder .
52).
The Constitution is extremely ambiguous concerning individual .
rights and personal freedoms of man. It does, however, prohibit the .
passage of ex post facto laws, which punish people for an act they .
committed before such an act was illegal, disallow bills of attainder, .
which punish offenders without a trial, and prevent suspension of the .
writ of habeas corpus, which requires a detained man to be notified of .
the offense he committed (Gilbert 331). The Constitution also .
prohibits religious qualifications for seeking and holding a .
governmental office, and it secures the right of a trial by jury of .
peers in a criminal case (Gilbert 336). .
Articles One, Two, and Three of the United States Constitution .
define the three structures of the national government, and include .
each branch's composition and function. .
Article One deals with the Congress, the legislative structure .
of the federal government. It is the Congress, rather than the .
President, who is bestowed by the Constitution with the lawmaking .
