[Texaggie79]

The First Amendment did not apply to the states until the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified.

I believe it did, and I believe the founders agree with me. Why make a BoR that only applies to the Fed gov, which is supposed to be a very small faction with little function. The states are where criminal laws are tried. Why address cruel and unusual punishment, when the STATES are the majority of the prosecutors? The BoR have always applied to the States. The 14th just solidified that.

[Virginia-American]

Why make a BoR that only applies to the Fed gov

uh, because they were defining the federal gov't? There was an established church in Massachusetts until the 1840s

[E Rocc]

The First Amendment did not apply to the states until the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified. I believe it did, and I believe the founders agree with me. Why make a BoR that only applies to the Fed gov, which is supposed to be a very small faction with little function. The states are where criminal laws are tried. Why address cruel and unusual punishment, when the STATES are the majority of the prosecutors? The BoR have always applied to the States. The 14th just solidified that.

It's debatable whether it did or not before the 14th Amendment. For example the Congregational Church was not disestablished in Connecticut until 1818.

Once the Fourteenth was ratified, it was no longer debatable.

-Eric