Question: Why was the Bill of Rights added to U.S. Constitution?
Answer: During the Constitutional Convention and before the Constitution was ratified by the states, there were many concerns that the federal government would be too powerful under the Constitution. The two major sides of this arguement were the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Anti-Federalists believed that the Bill of Rights was necessary to protect people from a strong central government by specifically listing the rights of citizens.
Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution as a compromise between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. Through this compromise, ratification of the Constitution by the states was achieved.
(Note: Although the Bill of Rights protected citizens from the federal government, they were not protected from state governments until the 14th Amendment.)
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