Creating the United States

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Bill of Rights Seen as a Diversion

Bill of Rights Seen as a Diversion (78)

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In A Tale of a Tub by Jonathan Swift (1667–1745), a tub is tossed to an angry whale to divert it from attacking a boat. This satirical phrase was applied to the constitutional amendments to secure individual rights (the Bill of Rights) because “like a tub thrown out to a whale” they diverted attention away from adopting more substantial amendments that would change the structure of the federal government.
In <em>A Tale of a Tub</em> by Jonathan Swift (1667–1745), a tub is tossed to an angry whale to divert it from attacking a boat. This satirical phrase was applied to the constitutional amendments to secure individual rights (the Bill of Rights) because “like a tub thrown out to a whale” they diverted attention away from adopting more substantial amendments that would change the structure of the federal government.