Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution
The 7th Amendment was ratified on December 15, 1791 as one of ten amendments in the Bill of Rights. But the background for its passing began in England during the 12th century. At the time juries were made up of 12 men who gave their opinions in a trial. The 12-man jury originally included the accusers against the defendant, a supposed enemy of the king. Eventually this led to a system where the jury made a verdict based on evidence. The practice followed English colonists to the American colonies. But juries became a tool used to express American discontent with British rule. A series of Navigation Acts prohibited the American colonies from trading directly with the Netherlands, Spain, France, and their colonies. As more and more trade restriction were imposed, the American colonists turned to smuggling. When smugglers were caught, they were brought before juries made up of other colonists. These sympathetic juries often acquitted their fellow colonists. The king, angered at these lawbreakers going free, created new courts that did not allow juries. This was a breach of common law practice and infringed on their rights as British citizens. After the American Revolutionary War, the Seventh Amendment was written to expressly limit the powers of the executive and the Judicial branches of the new federal government.