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Constitution Day: The Bill of Rights and the Impact of War

Constitution Day: The Bill of Rights and the Impact of War
President Abraham Lincoln visits soldiers encamped at the Civil War battlefield of Antietam in Maryland on Oct. 1, 1862. Rischgitz/Getty Images
Ronald J. Rychlak
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In honor of U.S. Constitution Day, on Sept. 17, we present a five-part series on the Bill of Rights. It reveals how the first 10 amendments to the Constitution guarantee freedom of speech, religion, and the press, and, in so many other ways, limit the power of the federal government and secure the rights of individuals.

The U.S. Civil War not only shaped the nation, it changed the very structure of the American government. After that war, the country passed three enormously important amendments to the Constitution.

Ronald J. Rychlak
Ronald J. Rychlak
contributor
Ronald J. Rychlak is the Jamie L. Whitten chair in law and government at the University of Mississippi. He is the author of several books, including “Hitler, the War, and the Pope,” “Disinformation” (co-authored with Ion Mihai Pacepa), and “The Persecution and Genocide of Christians in the Middle East” (co-edited with Jane Adolphe).