Before the Bill of Rights was ratified were the liberties that were guaranteed in those amendments protected in any way for the citizens of the United States? Or were these rights assumed to be protected in the Constitution?
I understand that the ninth Amendment gives us protections beyond the Bill of Rights, but was that implied prior to their ratification?
Those four years were the first term of Pres. Washington -- the first four years of our federal government. The Bill of Rights was designed to specifically enumerate rights that most founders already recognized. During those first four years, they were busy setting up the judiciary, the federal departments, the cabinet, the seat of government -- and the government was not in any shape to exert real power against the people. The first time the federal government really tried to exert power over the people, it caused the Whiskey Rebellion, which started during the time of the ratification of the Bill of Rights. The people were protected (for the most part) because they were armed, a right that they already had and a right that was recognized by the 2nd Amendment. "Presidency of George Washington" - https://openlibrary.org/search?isbn=0451622545
The right of free speech and press was widely recognized and ingrained in the culture and there was really no federal government to speak of during that time that could infringe those rights. "Common Sense" - http://www.ushistory.org/paine/commonsense/