Incorporation of the Bill of Rights facts for kids
The incorporation of the Bill of Rights is a special process that made sure your basic rights are protected by all levels of government in the United States. Before this, the Bill of Rights mainly protected you from the national (federal) government. But thanks to something called the Fourteenth Amendment, most of these rights now also apply to state and local governments. This means your freedoms are protected no matter where you live in the U.S.!
What Are Your Rights?
The Bill of Rights is the first ten changes, or amendments, to the U.S. Constitution. It lists many important freedoms and protections for people in America. These include things like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to a fair trial.
Originally, these rights were mostly designed to limit the power of the federal government. This meant that while the national government couldn't take away your freedom of speech, a state government *could* potentially try to. This might seem unfair, right?
Why Rights Needed to Apply Everywhere
Imagine if your state government could stop you from saying what you think, even if the federal government couldn't. That's how things were for a long time. The Bill of Rights protected you from the national government, but not always from your own state or local government.
For example, in 1833, a very old court case called Barron v. Baltimore decided that the Bill of Rights only applied to the federal government. Later, even after the Fourteenth Amendment was added, another case in 1876, United States v. Cruikshank, said that the First Amendment (freedom of speech, religion) and Second Amendment (right to bear arms) didn't apply to state governments. This meant people's rights could be different depending on which state they lived in.
How the Fourteenth Amendment Changed Things
After the American Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment was added to the Constitution. This amendment has a very important part called the "Due Process Clause." This clause says that no state can "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."
Starting in the 1920s, the Supreme Court began to interpret this "Due Process Clause" in a new way. They decided that it meant states also had to follow most of the rules in the Bill of Rights. This process is called "selective incorporation" because the Supreme Court applied the rights one by one, or "selectively," over many years through different court cases.
Thanks to this process, most of the important rights in the Bill of Rights now protect you from actions by your state and local governments, just as they protect you from the federal government. This makes sure that your basic freedoms are protected no matter where you are in the United States.
