Bill of Rights

Audience

The primary audience for the Bill of Rights is the government of the United States. The document is a set of guaranteed rights that limit the power of the federal government and grant to all persons in the United States a set of liberties that the government may not violate. It directs the government to respect legal boundaries beyond which it may not proceed.

In the era of the early Republic, the political considerations that led to the adoption of the Bill of Rights compelled the framers to make a compromise with one of the key audiences of the day—the Antifederalists. Largely against the adoption of the new Constitution, the Antifederalists were primarily made up of a loose coalition of detractors of the Constitution who joined together for various reasons in an effort to block ratification. Most of the Antifederalists were in favor of small government and states' rights and were concerned that the Constitution gave far too much power to the new federal government. While the Constitution was ratified by the requisite nine states without the support of the Antifederalists, to begin the government without the support of such a significant portion of the people might have jeopardized the stability and longevity of that government. Thus, the Antifederalist audience was key in the creation and sustaining of the Bill of Rights.