Final answer:
The assumption held by the courts for many years was that the scope of the Bill of Rights was limited to the actions of the national government.
Step-by-step explanation:
The assumption regarding the Bill of Rights that was held by the courts for many years is that the scope of the Bill of Rights was limited to the actions of the national government.
This means that the protections and rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights only applied to the actions of the federal government and not to the actions of state governments or individual citizens.
For example, before the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868, the Bill of Rights did not apply to state governments, and each state had its own laws and limitations on individual rights.
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