What is the Bill of Rights?How does it differ from the Constitution?
957654
The Bill of Rights doesn't differ from the Constitution.  They are a part of the Constitution - the first ten amendments.\n\nFreedom of speech\nFreedom of religion\nFreedom of the press\nThe right to bear arms\nMust have a search warrant with probable cause to search\nThe right not to self-incriminate yourself in court\nTrial by jury\nNo excessive bail
2116
The amendments are the alterations that are made to the constitution. This ability to change was written into the original constitution, and is considered one of the primary reasons that the constitution is such a great document.\n\nThe Bill of Rights refers to the document of 12 amendments (though two were not accepted leaving only ten that have any force of law) to the constitution that had to be made before the constitution was accepted. Primarily they are points that were left out of the original constitution that the delegates felt should be included. So the 10 Amendments of the Bill of Rights were enacted before the constitution was ratified.
576221
The Constitution is organized into three parts: \n\nPreamble: Describes the purpose of the document and government. \nArticles: Establish how the government is structured and how the Constitution can be changed. There are seven articles. \nAmendments: Changes to the Constitution; the first ten are called the Bill of Rights.
163448
the funny thing about the constitution is that it is exactly as democratic as anyone wants it to be (or doesn't).  basically it can be anything based on your interpretation of it.\n\nan example.  the constitution protects our freedom of speech.  meanwhile, there are a thousand laws limiting this freedom.  some are for legitimate reasons and some aren't.  someone like george w. bush reads the constitution and believes that we as americans have very few civil liberties, that it is okay for him to put restrictions on our "constitutionally protected" rights of free speech, religion, assembly, privacy, due process, and many, many more, and that these rights can be sacrificed in order to protect "national security".  other people and organizations, such as the ACLU or the democratic party before its spine mysteriously disappeared a few years ago, believe that these rights should not be infringed, ever, for any reason.  \n\nthis just goes to show how two different people can read the same thing and come away with two completely different opinions about what it actually means.
283677
the constitution. the constitution is a contract that describes the restrictions on politicians' powers, thats why they had to sign it. the patriot act is a strategic guideline against terrirism. its also an act of treason in the context of the constitution.
14924
The U.S. Constitution is the basis for all law in the U.S.  It describes the how the government of the Unitied States operates.  It also grants people certain rights.\n\nOf course, the present administration has great contempt for the Constitution.
688133
The Constitution is intended as a framework upon which the nation can build a legal system.  It's a wonderful thing.  Read it.  (You can get a free copy from the Cato Institute)\n\nThe only thing better is the Bill of Rights.\n\nMy least favorite Amendment is the 18th, but it's okay 'cos the 21st set that right!
693883
The rights were originally established by English common law.  Common law is based upon trial presidence.  There was a fear that the government could alter these rights.  The amendment codified the rights so they could not be changed by Congress.
935993
The Constitution of the United States
268763
Bill of Rights.\n\n(but Drama Guy's answer four below mine is the best)
167434
Questions like or similar to this one have appeared here several times.  Other than those who ask such questions to simply get a response to see what others think, often they come up (in my opinion) because the asker (present company excepted, of course) due to a lack of education as to what the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights actually are and mean.\n\nFirst of all, the Constitution of the United States was created to create a general government (in this case a federal government) and the relationship between that general government and the ratifying States and their citizens, as ratified by the several States as representing the citizens of each of their States.   \n\nIt is not a document of laws nor does it grant any rights.  It is a structure which acts as a foundation from which laws are to be enacted which are necessary (and proper) to carry through the powers delegated to the federal government created by those delegated powers.\n\nThe Bill of Rights is the result of an agreement made during the Constitutional Convention to gather the votes necessary to propose the draft of the Constitution to the then standing Congress under the Articles of Confederation.  It first came up (by George Mason) during the discussion concerning trial by jury.  \n\nAt that time 8 of the 13 State Constitutions (the States had real Constitutions prior to the Constitution of the United States) had forms of a Bill of Rights and George Mason had written Virginia’s in 1776.\n\nSubsequent to the ratification of the Constitution of the United States and during the first session of the Congress, James Madison was given the task of drafting this Bill of Rights and in this effort he used the Virginia Bill of Rights as a guide.  His work resulted in a Bill of Rights with 12 articles being proposed to the several State legislatures.  Only 10 were ratified at that time.\n\nBills of Rights are not new to our historical roots, certainly Magna Carta can be considered a form of a Bill of Rights and there were others through the years such as “The Petition of Right [1628] and “The Bill of rights” [1689].\n\nEven so, the United States Bill of Rights is less a listing of individual rights than it is selected controls on the federal government.  This is because of the structure of the Bill of rights, that is, the first 8 ratified articles of the Bill of Rights are exclusionary articles in that they exclude the federal government from doing specific acts.  The final two articles are declarations of basic truths and are therefore controlling of the federal government.\n\nAll of this structure of government can reasonably be considered as being a natural evolution of our heritage of the Common Law easily traceable to the Great Charter of 1215 (Magna Carta) and, in my opinion, founded in the developing Common Law during the preceding 2,000 years.\n\nDuring the intervening years since 1791 (year of the ratification of the Bill of Rights) 27 Amendments have been made to the Constitution of the United States changing that structure.\n\nLegislative statutes are enacted within this structure and the constitutional structures of the various States.  Those enacted laws, in the style of our common law, evolve and produce new laws, as well as new judicial interpretations.  In that sense we do, and yet we don’t, live within what occurred 215 years ago.  \n\nIn such a system, how can it be out of date?  It has lasted so long with relatively little change because its roots and its intent and its content are focused on individual rights.
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CONSTITUTION and Bill of Rights OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS\n\nhttp://www.harbornet.com/rights/illinois.txt\n\nVoters Bill of Rights\n\nhttp://www.equipforequality.org/programs/votingrights/votersbill.php
378419
Read the US Constitution.  Pay particular attention to the first 10 amendments.  They are known, collectively, as the Bill of Rights.  The additional amendments spell out a few more.
96269
Do you mean the constitution? A constitution is a system, often codified in a written document, which establishes the rules and principles by which an organization is governed. In the case of nation states, this term refers specifically to a national constitution, which defines its nation's fundamental political principles and establishes the power and duties of each government. Most national constitutions also guarantee certain rights to the people.
291958
no the bill of rights is just a document declaring our independance from england and our god given rights as citzens. If anything the immigration bill would go on the constitution if need be!
160559
The Bill of Rights are the Ten basic rights and freedoms of all U.S. citizens.
819445
Our Constitution is what makes the USA great.  As stated by the people who wrote it, the rights guaranteed by our Constitution are the rights given to us by God, and it is the government's job to see that those rights are not taken away.The United States of America is not only the greatest Christian nation, it is the greatest of all nations on earth. If every country in the world would adopt the US constitution and actually live by it, they would all be much better off than they are under their inferior systems.