...threatened not to ratify it nless it guaranteed basic civil rights. Virginia's Thomas Jefferson argued, "A bill of rights is what the people are entitled...just government should refuse, or rest on inference." To ensure that the Constitution would be ratified, the delegates at the Constitutional vention agreed...

...the rights that Jefferson regarded as essential to republican democracy — wherever it might thrive: "Let me add that a bill of rights is what the people...every government on earth, general or particular, & what no just government should refuse, or rest on inferences." Aware that such rights must be forever...

...Jefferson, in his letter to James Madison after reviewing the proposed US Constitution, stated in 1787: "A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth" which should include "freedom of religion, freedom of the press, protection against standing armies,...

...over the mind of man."— Thomas Jefferson, September 23, 1800, as inscribed in the Jefferson Memorial "A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on Earth... and what no just government should refuse."— Thomas Jefferson in a Letter to James Madison, Paris,...

...unremitting force of the habeas corpus laws, and trials by jury." A Bill of Rights, Jefferson added, "is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth." For Jefferson, as for many other Americans, the preeminent purpose of a basic frame of government was...

...laws, and trials by jury in all matters of fact triable by the laws of the land . . ."7 He went on to add that "a bill of rights is what the people are...what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference."8 Jefferson believed that it would be best for the country if the first nine states ratified...

...anti-Federalist papers, town hall debates, and public outcry, the new government heeded Thomas Jefferson's words: "A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled...just government should refuse, or rest on inference." Although twelve amendments to the Constitution were proposed, only ten were ratified. The Fourth protected...

...different communities applied liberal principles in different ways. As Jefferson explains, however, "a bill of rights is what the people are entitled...what no just government should refuse, or rest on inferences"24 — whether federal or state. In any event, after the addition of the Fourteenth Amendment...

...other insanities, are incapable of self-government. To Marquis de LaFayette, Monticello, May 14, 1817 A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to...every government on earth, general or particular, & what no just government should refuse or rest on inferences. To James Madison, Paris, December 20,...

...understandable given his long involvement in its evolution. He had written to Madison on December 20, 1787, "A bill of rights is what the people are entitled...every government on earth, general or particular.'" 1 While US ambassador to France, Jefferson continued to remain active in the debate, often using Madison...