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Bill of Rights (Political Science)
A formal statement indicating the privileges, liberties, and rights citizens have by virtue of belonging to a community of human beings living in a society. Accordingly, these inalienable rights cannot be taken away by the state. The idea of fundamental, sacred human rights is deeply rooted in the history of Western civilization. Its significance was sharpened by the debate leading to revolution and independence in the United States and gained strength from the 18th-century Enlightenment with its stress on reason and the individual.
In the United States, the Bill of Rights consists of the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. Its origin stems from the Virginia Declaration of Rights, an influential document drafted in 1776 to proclaim the inalienable natural rights of men, including the right ...