History Theses

Lawmakers interpreted the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution in a way that denied citizens their individual privileges and protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. To demonstrate this, primary and secondary sources were used including court cases, acts, laws, books, journals, periodicals, personal papers, correspondences, and government records. These sources have revealed that the historical ramifications of search and seizure laws and individual rights were intended to be interpreted based on the viewer’s surrounding culture. The larger implications of this researcher’s findings are that the Bill of Rights must be construed as a set of rules that can be interpreted in any era for the sake of all citizens to have equal access to life, liberty, and property.