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The Bill of Rights, as initially approved, provided protection mainly for the rights of people with respect to the federal government. At that time, it was considered appropriate for states and communities to determine certain freedoms and restrict others.

For example, the First Amendment begins, "Congress shall make no law ..."

The Tenth Amendment says that anything not specifically given as a power of the federal government is reserved for the states or the people. This restriction was to prevent a huge federal power-grab.

The Fourteenth Amendment is not part of the Bill of Rights (it was added 75 years later) but has substantially changed how the courts and federal government view the Bill of Rights. This amendment says that none of the rights of the people may be taken away by any state -- in other words, the Bill of Rights now applies to state and local governments as well as to the federal government. This changes the interpretation of the First Amendment quoted above to something like, "Congress, and states and local governments, shall make no law ..."

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