Rights not specifically mentioned in the Constitution are considered, but are protected nonetheless. The Ninth Amendment states that when rights are not listed, this cannot beas limiting citizens' rights. According to the Ninth Amendment, the fact that rights are not listed should not mean that these rights arein any way.

As a result of the debate about the centralization of power in the federal government, four states: Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, and North Carolina, amid the ratification of the Constitution. They were concerned about protecting the individual, state's rights, and civil liberties, for this matter they presented a bill of rights. In 1789, Congressman James Madison presented to Congress a cluster of constitutional amendments that have since become known as the Bill of Rights. The first eight Amendments to the Constitution provided protection for designated rights of individuals; freedom of religion, press, speech, and assembly and many others. The Ninth and Tenth Amendments address the need for specific statements that the enumeration of rights in the Constitution "shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people" and that "powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." The ten amendments constituting the Bill of Rights became effective on December 15, 1791. The Bill of Rights, it should be noted, provided no rights or legal protection to women, African Americans, or Indians.