Search results
Learn about the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution that protect the rights of citizens and limit the powers of the government. Find the text, explanations, and historical background of each amendment.
- First Amendment
The First Amendment guarantees freedoms concerning religion,...
- Ninth Amendment
The Ninth Amendment was James Madison’s attempt to ensure...
- Signers
Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states...
- Eighth Amendment
Most often mentioned in the context of the death penalty,...
- Amendment X. Rights Reserved to The States and The People
Tenth Amendment Rights Reserved to the States and the...
- Amendment I. Fundamental Freedoms
Constitutional Convention, Ratification, and the Bill of...
- First Amendment
The United States Bill of Rights comprises the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution.
Apr 27, 2023 · Learn about the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution that guarantee Americans' rights and liberties. Find out the history, text, and interpretation of each amendment with examples and sources.
Other articles from archives.gov
Mar 29, 2024 · Bill of Rights, in the United States, the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which were adopted as a single unit on December 15, 1791, and which constitute a collection of mutually reinforcing guarantees of individual rights and of limitations on federal and state governments.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- What is the Bill of Rights?The Bill of Rights is the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, adopted as a single unit in 1791. It spells out the rights of the people of...
- Why was the Bill of Rights added?Three delegates to the Constitutional Convention, most prominently George Mason, did not sign the U.S. Constitution largely because it lacked a bil...
- How was the Bill of Rights added to the U.S. Constitution?James Madison drew on the Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights, and Virginia’s Declaration of Rights, mainly written by George Mason, in draftin...
- How does the Bill of Rights protect individual rights?The Bill of Rights says that the government cannot establish a particular religion and may not prohibit people or newspapers from expressing themse...
- Does the Bill of Rights apply to the states?Originally, the Bill of Rights applied only to the federal government. (One of the amendments that the U.S. Senate rejected would have applied thos...
- Influence of Magna Carta. The roots of the Bill of Rights lie deep in Anglo-American history. In 1215 England’s King John, under pressure from rebellious barons, put his seal to Magna Carta, which protected subjects against royal abuses of power.
- Constitutional Convention. Once independence had been declared in 1776, the American states turned immediately to the writing of state constitutions and state bills of rights.
- James Madison Drafts Amendments. James Madison. In the First Congress, Madison undertook to fulfill his promise. Carefully sifting amendments from proposals made in the state ratifying conventions, Madison steered his project through the shoals of indifference on the part of some members (who thought the House had more important work to do) and outright hostility on the part of others (Antifederalists who hoped for a second convention to hobble the powers of the federal government).
- Post-Bill of Rights Amendments. The Civil War and Reconstruction brought, in their wake, the Fourteenth Amendment, which declares, among other things, that no state shall “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
Consequently, the first ten amendments, which are commonly referred to as the Bill of Rights, along with one that was not ratified and one that was not ratified until 1992, were proposed by Congress on September 25, 1789, when they passed the Senate, having previously passed the House on September 24. 11.
Apr 21, 2023 · Read the original text of the 12 amendments proposed by Congress in 1789 and ratified by the states as the U.S. Bill of Rights. Learn about the history and significance of the first 10 amendments to the Constitution.
People also ask
What rights are included in the Bill of Rights?
What is the purpose of the Bill of Rights?
How does the Bill of Rights apply to the American people?
What are the amendments in the Bill of Rights?
