Where's the Bill of Rights? - Brutus II
Brutus II was an Anti-Federalist Paper that ridiculed the Constitution for its lack of a Bill of Rights.
Brutus II
November 1, 1787
In Brutus II, the second in a series of Anti-Federalist Papers by an unknown author (probably Robert Yates), a discussion is had about a Bill of Rights.
More specifically, a discussion is had about the US Constitution’s LACK of a Bill of Rights.
In total, this is probably the best argument the Anti-Federalists had against the Constitution. The Federalist Papers would not even acknowledge this subject for another nine months, only popping it into Federalist #84 which was their second to last offering and lumped a Bill of Rights in with several other topics that were not deemed urgent enough to get a Paper of their own.
Reviewing Rights
Brutus II begins by recapping many of the same themes outlined in the Declaration of Independence.
The author affirms that a free government is based on the will of the people who inherently maintain certain rights.
He then proceeds to determine why the Constitution is dangerous to those rights.
Supremacy
Brutus points to Article VI of the Constitution which contains the Supremacy Clause. Specifically, he looks at the section which discusses oaths to the Federal Government from State officials.
Federalists were arguing that the States’ Bills of Rights were enough to protect citizens. Why then, Brutus asked, were State officials subordinate to the Federal Government, but the rights of individuals were not?
This seemed to the author an obvious contradiction which would leave the people unprotected from the dangers of a large, distant government.
Grievances
This Essay goes through many of the rights which Brutus thought could be violated under the Constitution, elaborating on the dangers associated with each.
He wades through criminal trials, including the ability to not implicate yourself in a crime and to face your accuser. There is talk of excessive bail and unreasonable travel to attend trial.
Additionally, he speaks of a standing army that could not be controlled by the people in a nation so large without the ability to maintain a militia.
Much of these conversations seem obvious to us now, as they would eventually be included in the Bill of Rights and amended into the Constitution.
At the time, however, there was no plan to include any of this information in the official Government.
If you would like to read the original text of Brutus II, click here to get it for FREE.
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