Inquiry Into the Origin and Course of Political Parties in the United StatesVan Buren, Martin
History
Inquiry Into the Origin and Course of Political Parties in the United States
Van Buren, Martin
Political parties -- United States
Mr. Madison's ten amendments consisted of provisions in favor of the
free exercise of religion, of speech, and of the press; of assembling
peaceably to petition the Government for a redress of grievances; of the
right to keep and bear arms; against quartering soldiers in any house
without the consent of the owner, except under certain qualifications;
against unreasonable searches and general warrants; against being held
to answer for crimes unless on presentment by a grand jury, with certain
exceptions; against being twice put in jeopardy for the same offense;
against being compelled to be a witness against one's self, or being
deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law;
against taking private property for public use without just
compensation; in favor of a trial by an impartial jury of the district
in certain cases at common law and in all criminal prosecutions, of the
party charged being informed of the nature of the accusation, of being
confronted with the witnesses against him, of having compulsory process
for obtaining witnesses and the assistance of counsel in his defense;
against excessive bail, excessive fines or cruel punishments; against
the enumeration of certain rights being construed to deny or disparage
others retained by the people; and, finally, that powers not delegated
to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
States, are reserved to the States respectively or to the people.
These provisions embraced the points upon which the public mind was most
susceptible, and upon which the old Anti-Federal party in particular had
been, with obvious reason, most excited.
That Mr. Madison's success in this great measure saved the Constitution
from the ordeal of another Federal Convention is a conclusion as certain
as any that rests upon a contingency which has not actually occurred,
and that it converted the residue of the Anti-Federal party which had
not supported the Constitution, whose members, as well as their
political predecessors in every stage of our history, constituted a
majority of the people, from opponents of that instrument into its
warmest friends, and that they and their successors have from that time
to the present period, either as Republicans or Democrats, occupied the
position of its _bonâ fide_ defenders in the sense in which it was
designed to be understood by those who constructed and by those who
ratified it, against every attempt to undermine or subvert it, are
undeniable facts.
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