Hello. My name is Thomas Jefferson. It is September of 1787. I am forty four years of age. I was born on April 13th, 1743. I studied law in college, became a lawyer and when I got older, I then served on the Virginia legislature. I also was a member of Congress. I am hoping that I will be Secretary of State one day. I have a very strong feeling that I will. Something you may want to know about me is that my father died when I was at the mere age of fourteen. I was the third president of the United States.
Today is a very special day in America! It is the day of the signing of the Constitution. Unfortunately, I am not in America and will not be able to attend the Convention. I am in France right now. I have been here for several years. I am the American Minister to France. I was sent here back in 1784. While I am in France I have been keeping in touch with the members of the Constitutional Convention. James Madison is a very close friend of mine. He has been keeping me updated with everything that I need to know and everything that has been going on at the Convention that I am missing. The first thing he told me was that George Washington was unanimously chosen by the members of the Convention to be the leader of the Convention. He also told me that they made a lot of the rules at the Convention that were supposed to keep the discussions at the Convention a secret. He told me he would send me a copy of it.
I have just received a copy of the Constitution, and I completely agree with the purpose of this document. It is important to have a strong centralized government. However, in order for me to support and approve of this Constitution before me I insist on one thing that is very important to me. I believe that the government’s power has to have some limits. The Constitution doesn’t do this. I won’t agree to it unless there are some limits on the government’s power. I told James Madison that the Constitution must have a Bill of rights included in it. This Bill of Rights must be added to the Constitution by adding ten amendments to it. There was a lot of arguing over this point, but in the end, my insisting on this Bill of Rights is what helped get the Constitution ratified. It’s been a hard day, but my work here is done. Au Revior!
These are the ten amendments that I insisted be included:
1. Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, and Petition
2.Bearing Arms
3. Quartering of Troops
4. Searches and Seizures
5. Criminal Proceedings; Due Process; Eminent Domain
6. Criminal Proceedings
7. Civil Trials
8. Punishment for Crimes
9. Unenumerated Rights
10. Powers Reserved to the States
