"before it gave us all our rights"   ..... It was hotly debated whether to include them or not for the simple reason that there were those who thought a real necessity was absent as it was understood the Constitution to be written such that the rights in the Bill of rights were automatically protected. Others felt it was not sufficient for fear of an overbearing fed .gov. The latter group was able to push their ideas through, and looking back, rightly so....  The Constitution does not give us rights ... it enshrines the limits to where .gov can go. All rights are reserved unless expressively mentioned the .gov is granted a power.  I am not being overly sensitive here. It is important to get this right. (pun intended)