Why did the Bill of Rights originally only apply to the national government? The supreme court stated that the Bill of Rights applied only to the federal government in 1833 during the Barron V. Requires the government to give an individual due process before taking away their fundamental rights.

In Barron v. Baltimore (1833), the Supreme Court declared that the Bill of Rights applied to the federal government, and not to the states. Its Due Process Clause prohibits state and local governments from depriving persons of life, liberty, or property without certain steps being taken to ensure fairness.

– Bill of Rights applies to the actions of the federal government, not the state governments. – However, each state constitution contains its own bill of rights to protect the freedoms of its citizens. The Supreme Court has ruled that this clause means no state can deny any person their basic rights and liberties.

The Bill of Rights was not intended to limit the power of state governments over citizens, and in fact, there were no limitations whatsoever in the Constitution on the power of state governments over citizens except to the degree that there were enumerated rights amongst the three federal branches of government.

Federal power is limited. If there is no interstate commerce involved and the matter does not involve individual rights under the Constitution, the states have the right to control their affairs. The federal government also has very limited authority to commandeer state personnel to enforce federal law.

An example of a limited government is our own U.S. government. In other words, the U.S. government does not have any power other than that which is granted to it by the U.S. Constitution.

Examples of Limited Government

• United States.
• England.
• Canada.
• Denmark.
• Germany.
• Mexico.
• Australia.
• Japan.

The Bill of Rights holds many examples of Limited Government. For example, American citizens have the right to free speech, to protest, and the government cannot come to your house and search without a warrant. Another example is checks and balances and the separation of powers set up in the United States government.

The U.S. Constitution achieved limited government through a separation of powers: “horizontal” separation of powers distributed power among branches of government (the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary, each of which provide a check on the powers of the other); “vertical” separation of powers (federalism) …