This is the year of our nation’s 250th birthday. As communities around the country plan special patriotic events, we look back on our founding documents. One important document was our Bill of Rights.
Beginnings
The Bill of Rights consists of the first 10 amendments to the US Constitution, ratified on Dec. 15, 1791. James Madison made them after the Constitution was ratified. He feared that the new federal government outlined in the Constitution could infringe on individual rights.
He originally proposed 17 amendments to the First Congress in 1789. Twelve were approved by Congress, and 10 were ratified by the states, forming the Bill of Rights.
What Is In The Bill Of Rights?
As the first ten amendments to our Constitution, these amendments provide broad protections, including freedom of speech, religion, and the press; the right to bear arms; protection against unreasonable searches; and extensive rights for the criminally accused, including the right to a speedy trial and legal counsel. The Ninth and 10th Amendments clarify that the listed rights are not exhaustive and that powers not granted to the federal government remain with the states and the people.
Reading through these amendments, one thinks on all our founding fathers endured to add these to our original documents.
Rejections
Three states, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Georgia, originally rejected the amendments in 1791. With Virginia’s ratification already clearing the three-fourths threshold of adoption, there was no legal pressure to revisit it—until all three states acted symbolically on the 150th anniversary of Congressional approval of the amendments.
