Opinion: America’s success dates back to this Founding compromise – By Eleesha Tucker (Deseret News) / Dec 15, 2022
Dialogue across political differences made the Union possible. Can we do the same to keep it?
On Dec. 15, we celebrate the adoption of the first 10 amendments of the United States Constitution, better known as the Bill of Rights. These amendments, ratified in 1791, protect the individual liberties that many in the founding era feared would be weakened under a new constitution. The Bill of Rights includes protections for religious freedom and the freedoms of expression — speech, press, assembly and petition. It also guarantees the right to bear arms, promises a speedy trial by jury, safeguards against unlawful government searches and seizures, and more.
Today, most Americans take these protections for granted, assuming it was inevitable they would be assured in our governmental system. However, the Bill of Rights was only adopted — and the Union created — because political opponents with competing visions for the new country engaged in dialogue and compromise for the sake of the country.
When delegates gathered to the Constitutional Convention in the summer of 1787, our fragile new country was on the brink of failure and deeply divided. Among other ills, restless unpaid war veterans called for rebellion, states vied over border disputes and debt from the Revolutionary War threatened economic crisis.
