The Correspondence of Thomas Jefferson
By Subject
CONSITUTION / UNITED STATES / BILL OF RIGHTS
A little reflection soon convinced me it ought not to be. What I
disapproved from the first moment, also, was the want of a bill of
rights to guard liberty against the legislative as well as the
executive branches of the government; that is to say, to secure
freedom in religion, freedom of the press, freedom from monopolies,
freedom from unlawful imprisonment, freedom from a permanent military,
and a trial by jury in all cases determinable by the laws of the land.
I disapproved, also, the perpetual re-eligibility of the President.
Francis Hopkinson, 13 March 1789
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