The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first 10 amendments to the US Constitution. The amendments have the purpose of protecting the natural rights of liberty and property. They guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and reserve some powers for the states and public. While the amendments originally applied only to the federal government, most of their provisions have since been held to apply to the states by way of the Fourteenth Amendment.

History of the Bill of Rights

James Madison introduced the amendments to the First United States Congress as a series of legislative articles. The House of Representatives adopted them on on August 21, 1789, they were formally proposed by joint resolution of Congress on September 25, 1789, and they came into effect as Constitutional amendments on December 15, 1791, through the process of ratification by three-fourths of the states. While Congress passed 12 amendments, only 10 had originally been passed by the states. One of the remaining two was adopted as the 27th Amendment and the other technically remains pending before the states.

Early Sentiments 

To prevent the federal government from assuming excessive power, those who opposed the Constitution, who were known as Anti-Federalists, demanded a Bill of Rights, specifically designed to protect individual liberties. However, the idea of adding this bill to the Constitution was met with some resistance from the Federalists, who were supporters of the Constitution. For example in Federalist No. 84, Alexander Hamilton argued against such amendments, asserting that ratification of the Constitution did not mean the American people were surrendering their rights and, therefore, protections were unnecessary. Other Federalists claimed that the new government could not violate the people's rights because it only had limited powers. However, most state legislatures refused to ratify the Constitution without the Bill of Rights being added to the document.

Massachusetts Compromise and Ratification

The need for, or at least the desirability of, a bill of rights was almost universally felt, and the Anti-Federalists were able to play on these feelings in the ratification convention in Massachusetts. By this stage, five of the states had ratified the Constitution with relative ease. However, in Massachusetts, the Constitution ran into committed, organized opposition. Only after two leading Anti-Federalists, John Adams and John Hancock, negotiated a far-reaching compromise did the convention vote for ratification on February 6, 1788.

Under the Massachusetts Compromise, the delegates recommended that the new Congress consider the amendments should the Constitution enter into force. The Massachusetts Compromise determined the fate of the Constitution, as it permitted delegates with doubts to vote for it in the hope that it would be amended.

Development and Ratification

James Madison recognized that Congress should respond to the demands of the state conventions and authored the text of the Bill of Rights. He based much of the Bill of Rights on the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776) primarily authored by George Mason. That itself had been written with Madison's input. He carefully considered the state amendment recommendations as well. He looked for recommendations shared by many states so as to avoid controversy and reduce opposition to the ratification of future amendments. Madison's work on the Bill of Rights also reflected centuries of English law and philosophy, further modified by the principles of the American Revolution.

James Madison

Portrait of James Madison, "father of the Constitution" and first author of the Bill of Rights

On November 20, 1789, New Jersey became the first state to ratify these amendments. On December 15, 1791, 10 of the proposals became the First through Tenth Amendments—and US law—when they were ratified by the Virginia legislature.

Brief Summary of Bill of Rights Articles

1. First Amendment: establishment clause, free exercise clause; freedom of speech, of the press, and of assembly; right to petition
2. Second Amendment: establishes the right to keep and bear arms
3. Third Amendment: establishes protection from quartering of troops
4. Fourth Amendment: establishes protection from unreasonable search and seizure
5. Fifth Amendment: guarantees due process, prohibits legal double jeopardy, protects against self-incrimination, establishes eminent domain
6. Sixth Amendment: guarantees trial by jury and rights of the accused; Confrontation Clause, speedy trial, public trial, right to counsel
7. Seventh Amendment: guarantees civil trial by jury
8. Eighth Amendment: prohibits excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment
9. Ninth Amendment: protects the rights not specifically enumerated in the Constitution
10. Tenth Amendment: establishes powers of states and people