The Bill of Rights did not become part of the United States Constitution just because the Founding Fathers were great political philosophers. Before their work, almost five hundred years of sweat and blood for political and religious rights had occurred in England. In THE BILL OF RIGHTS, Politics, Religion, and the Quest for Justice, John Patterson traces the fascinating journey of these rights through England and America. From the barons who challenged King John, through the Parliament that fought Charles I, to the Sons of Liberty who opposed George III, a story of human rights is told about those who built our freedoms brick by brick through the ages.
Even such events as The Plague, The Renaissance, and The Reformation are tied into this story, something that will surprise most people. THE BILL OF RIGHTS details the most critical period of the English expansion of liberty, the 17th century. The despised Stuart kings, the revered Sir Edward Coke, the feared Oliver Cromwell, and the admired William and Mary are shown to be agents who shaped the course of human liberties in the Western World. Finally, this work plunges into the Great Debate over our Constitution and how the Bill of Rights became a part of it.
