If it were so, where did the government acquire
them to give away? Not from the text of the Constitution, as it provides for the
organization of the government itself, delineating the roles of
the various branches, and enumerating and restricting the powers of each.
Not
from the Bill of Rights, as its purpose was to preclude the government from
infringing on the liberties of the people which were, by its very language, already
assumed to exist. “Congress shall make no
law…” is not a bequest to the people, but a clear boundary on the reach of the
government. In modern parlance: “Don’t even go there!”
The
answer to the founders was so ‘self-evident’ that some of them even argued
against any need for expressly stating them.
"We the people of the United States…do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of
America." Here is a better recognition of popular rights than volumes of
those aphorisms which make the principal figure in several of our state bills
of rights…” Alexander Hamilton, Federalist #84
Fortunately for us, Mr. Hamilton’s more wary
colleagues prevailed and took no chances on either the memories or good will of
their descendants. With the Bill of Rights they specified those areas upon which
the government may not trespass, and did so in language that left no doubt regarding
their suspicions.
The Conventions of a number of the
States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a
desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that
further declaratory and restrictive clauses, should be added: …Preamble to the Bill of Rights
Their caution
was not misplaced then, nor is it now, particularly when many among us have been led to believe
the cart came before the horse. The government the Founders designed was
established to protect our rights not to bestow them. Their origin is still “We
the People”.
