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Happy Bill of Rights Day! his Day In History BILL OF RIGHTS BECOMES LAW December 15, 1791
http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=leadstory ^

Posted on 12/15/2005 4:28:46 AM PST by mainepatsfan

This Day In History | General Interest

BILL OF RIGHTS BECOMES LAW: December 15, 1791

Following ratification by the state of Virginia, the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, become the law of the land.

In September 1789, the first Congress of the United States approved 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification. The amendments were designed to protect the basic rights of U.S. citizens, guaranteeing the freedom of speech, press, assembly, and exercise of religion; the right to fair legal procedure and to bear arms; and that powers not delegated to the federal government would be reserved for the states and the people.

Influenced by the English Bill of Rights of 1689, the Bill of Rights was also drawn from Virginia's Declaration of Rights, drafted by George Mason in 1776. Mason, a native Virginian, was a lifelong champion of individual liberties, and in 1787 he attended the Constitutional Convention and criticized the final document for lacking constitutional protection of basic political rights. In the ratification struggle that followed, Mason and other critics agreed to support the Constitution in exchange for the assurance that amendments would be passed immediately.

On December 15, 1791, Virginia became the 10th of 14 states to approve 10 of the 12 amendments, thus giving the Bill of Rights the two-thirds majority of state ratification necessary to make it legal. Of the two amendments not ratified, the first concerned the population system of representation, while the second prohibited laws varying the payment of congressional members from taking effect until an election intervened. The first of these two amendments was never ratified, while the second was finally ratified more than 200 years later, in 1992.


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To: mainepatsfan

still valid....if you do business with a stamp dealer they often cover a package with these old stamps


21 posted on 12/15/2005 5:46:32 AM PST by xp38
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To: mainepatsfan
Oh also found the 1989 stamp too


22 posted on 12/15/2005 6:00:32 AM PST by xp38
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To: don asmussen; Wolfie
Too bad they didn't survive. Not to mention the ninnies who think that the BoR actually lists the only rights we have.

Not to mention the ninnies who think that the BoR only applies to the US government, and that State & local governments are free to infringe on any rights we have.

Amen to both of those. Amazing how many people are ignorant of what the Bill of Rights actually says....

23 posted on 12/15/2005 6:29:42 AM PST by highball ("I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have." -- Thomas Jefferson)
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To: Just mythoughts
Image hosted by TinyPic.com

I guess maybe we should still be thankful they aren't quartering troops in our homes.

24 posted on 12/15/2005 6:35:31 AM PST by Dead Corpse (Anyone who needs to be persuaded to be free, doesn't deserve to be. -El Neil)
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To: mainepatsfan

I'd celebrate if there were any left.


25 posted on 12/15/2005 6:47:52 AM PST by the gillman@blacklagoon.com ("It's time for a f****** war, so join the army of hardcore")
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To: mainepatsfan

New Jersey was the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights on November 20, 1789.

Massachusetts, Connecticut and Georgia were the last of the original 13 states to ratify, not doing so until 1939.


26 posted on 12/15/2005 9:04:00 AM PST by XRdsRev (New Jersey is the Crossroads of the American Revolution 1775-1783)
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To: don asmussen

The worst part is many of them can be found right here, and they call themselves "conservatives".


27 posted on 12/15/2005 9:44:36 AM PST by TheFrog
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To: mainepatsfan; mpoulin; America; ancient_geezer; Cajun Against Carville; cybergal; ...

The Annual Bill of Rights Day Celebration in Colorado will be different this year.

It will be at
Johnson's Corner in the conference Room
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Dinner will begin at 6:00 p.m.
Followed by Speakers
Dinner will be from the Johnson's Corner wonderful menu on separate checks.

Join Freedom Loving Patriots for an evening of Fellowship.


For more information and a recap of years past go here
http://www.lovelandnet.com/bord/


If you would like to give a short talk or set up a table contact Tom Buchanan
970-667-6269 or email me at minuteman05@msn.com


28 posted on 12/16/2005 7:24:29 AM PST by fivetoes (Be vigilant about our freedoms like you are the only one doing it.)
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To: mainepatsfan
"You know why there's a Second Amendment? In case the government fails to follow the first one."
- Rush Limbaugh
29 posted on 12/16/2005 9:05:04 AM PST by Reagan Man (Secure our borders;punish employers who hire illegals;stop all welfare to illegals)
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To: mainepatsfan
BILL OF RIGHTS, OR BILL OF 'WRONGS'

Certainly the Fourth Amendment has been misinterpreted for years. Why should a criminal suspect be given "rights"?
If a duly "warranted" police officer suspects that I have committed a crime, and believes that the evidence is in my house, why should he have to go to a judge to seek entry while I'm given time to destroy the evidence.

If I'm innocent and there is no evidence where's the harm done, and to whom?

If the President of the United States wants to listen in on my conversations to ANYONE (domestic or foreign) why shouldn't he be allowed to. If I'm guilty of anything and he or his organization finds out by my own admission over the telephone, why shouldn't I be prosecuted? If I am not doing any wrong where is the harm being done, and to whom?

The interpretation of the Fifth Amendment is another thing.

Anybody read about the man who confessed to killing his ex-girlfriend's 2 year old son? He killed the child 15 years ago, and was acquitted in court. Now in a remorseful state he admitted to police that he killed the lad and wants to be punished. Unfortunately he cannot be prosecuted because of the Fourth Amendment rule against double jeopardy.

This is ridiculous. The Double Jeopardy rule was meant to keep an overzealous prosecutor from retrying a person who has been found innocent and had proclaimed his own innocence. If he comes back and said he lied that should be enough to throw out the Rule.

These are cases where the Constitution's 10 Bill of Rights goes against our Lord's 10 Commandments. In most cases as I see them, the Bill of Rights should be called the Bill of Wrongs!
30 posted on 02/26/2006 1:53:43 PM PST by nustart23
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