Bill of Rights was designed to guard against authoritarian rule

Evidence

The intense anger that erupted in Richmond during the ratifying convention would push Madison to take a different tack in future negotiations. Over the next few months, as he ran for Congress, Madison decided that he needed to quell the discontent by crafting a Bill of Rights that would mollify the Anti-Federalists and enslavers, yet still leave the national government’s power in place. — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 792 (#complicates, via linked claim)

It was privatization more than the Bill of Rights that led to the decline of censorship: “Decline in the practice of reading aloud led to a decline in the importance of censorship. — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 647 (#complicates, via linked claim)

After his electoral victory, Madison set out during the First Congress to craft a Bill of Rights. With everything at stake, he was like a man possessed. Congressman Theodore Sedgwick of Massachusetts thought Madison was so fixated on a Bill of Rights because he was “constantly haunted by the ghost of Patrick Henry,” who had made it so clear at Virginia’s ratifying convention that he could not abide the idea that the federal government would control the militia. Pennsylvania senator Robert Morris was also convinced that whatever had happened at the convention had made Madison “so cursedly frightened…that he dreamed of amendments ever since.” — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 793 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Authoritarians are more receptive to repealing the Bill of Rights — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 281; High-authoritarianism legislators favor restrictions that limit civil liberties; Authoritarians consistently favor laws restricting freedoms more than others do — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 3628 (+10 more)

Broader Connections

• Madison’s Bill of Rights was a political concession to dissatisfied enslavers over militia control #complicates (0.85) — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 792
• Privatization, not the Bill of Rights, caused censorship’s decline #complicates (0.81) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 647
• Contemporaries attributed Madison’s Bill of Rights obsession to Patrick Henry’s militia objections #complicates (0.80) — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 793
• Racial legislation could reduce rights while invoking freedoms #complicates (0.78)