The United States Bill of Rights comprises the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing rights such as freedom of speech, religion and the press, the right to bear arms, protection against unreasonable search and seizure, and due process of law. Congress proposed twelve amendments on 25 September 1789; ten were ratified by three-fourths of the states on 15 December 1791. James Madison, who had argued against a bill of rights during the ratification debates, drafted the amendments in the First Congress after Anti-Federalist critics made adoption a condition of broader acceptance of the Constitution.
Facts
Key ProvisionThe first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1791, enumerate protections against federal government power: freedom of speech, press, religion and assembly in the First Amendment, the right to bear arms in the Second, protection against unreasonable search and compelled self-incrimination in the Fourth and Fifth, the right to a speedy public jury trial in the Sixth, and, in the Tenth, a reservation to the states and the people of powers the Constitution does not delegate to the federal government. 1 Dates
AdoptedRatified by the requisite three-fourths of state legislatures (Virginia being the deciding state); the amendments had been proposed by Congress on 25 September 1789. Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Several of its guarantees, against excessive bail and cruel punishment among them, prefigure protections the American Bill of Rights later enumerated.
Drafted By
Madison drafted the amendments in the First Congress, despite having argued during the ratification debates that a bill of rights was unnecessary.
Influenced
Part Of
Sources
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.