On November 20, 1789, New Jersey voted in agreement with the Bill of Rights. New Jersey became the first state to vote in the Bill of Right, which was the first step to making these first 10 amendments to the Constitution law. The Bill of Rights was the first of many reforms that were started because of the Declaration of Independence. The Anti-Federalists were afraid of having a strong federal government that would become just another monarchy like the one they had just been freed from. They wanted the people to have more rights and more say in the government. So before voting in the Constitution of the United States, they were promised that the Bill of Rights would be added. As promised, Congress wrote out the new Bill of Rights on Christmas 1789. It gave these rights to all United States citizens:
- 1. Freedom of religion, speech and assembly
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2. Right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of a well-regulated militia
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3. No forcible quartering of soldiers during peacetime
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4. Freedom from unreasonable search and seizure
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5. Right to a grand jury for capital crimes and due process. Protection from double jeopardy, self-incrimination and public confiscation of private property without “just compensation”
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6. Right to “speedy and public” trial by jury and a competent defense
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7. Right to trial by jury for monetary cases above $20
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8. Protection against “excessive” bail or fines and “cruel and unusual” punishments
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9. Rights not enumerated are “retained by the people”
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10. Rights not given to the federal government or prohibited the state governments by the Constitution, “are reserved to the States… or to the people”
Also on this day, November 20, 1962, President John F. Kennedy gave Executive Order 11063 that ordered an end to discrimination in housing. President Kennedy’s order was a huge step in ending segregation in housing, but it was never put into practice. The policy said that individual housing and funding agencies could make sure that this order was followed, but no one did. In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson finally got a majority of Congress to make fair housing a law.
