Which feature was added to protect individual rights against the national government?

• A. The Preamble
• B. The Supremacy Clause
• C. The Articles
• D. The Bill of Rights

Answer: (D)

The Bill of Rights is about limiting the national government and protecting individual liberties. Ratified in 1791 as the first ten amendments, it lists fundamental freedoms—such as speech, religion, assembly, and the press—along with protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, cruel or unusual punishment, and guarantees of due process and fair trials. This set of rights was added specifically to reassure people and address concerns that a strong central government might infringe on personal liberties. While the Preamble explains why the Constitution exists and the Articles set up the structure of government, and the Supremacy Clause says federal law is the supreme law of the land, none of those alone enumerate and shield individual rights the way the Bill of Rights does. (Note: over time, these protections were extended to apply to states as well through later constitutional changes, but their primary purpose was to constrain the national government.)