Bill of Rights Ratified

Setting the scene

The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, was ratified on December 15, 1791. During ratification debates in 1787-1788, Anti-Federalists argued the Constitution lacked protections for individual liberties and would create a tyrannical central government. Federalists, led by Hamilton, argued a bill of rights was unnecessary and dangerous—unnecessary because the federal government had only enumerated powers, dangerous because listing rights might imply unlisted rights didn't exist. To secure ratification, Federalists promised to add amendments.

What happened

James Madison, elected to the first Congress, drafted amendments based on state ratifying conventions' proposals, Virginia's Declaration of Rights, and English liberties. Congress approved 12 amendments in September 1789; states ratified 10 by 1791. The Bill of Rights limits federal power: First Amendment protects speech, religion, press, assembly, petition; Second, right to bear arms; Third, quartering soldiers; Fourth, search and seizure; Fifth through Eighth, rights of the accused and due process; Ninth, unenumerated rights retained by people; Tenth, powers reserved to states or people.

Why it still matters

Initially, the Bill of Rights applied only to the federal government, not states—Barron v. Baltimore (1833) confirmed this. After the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause was interpreted to 'incorporate' most Bill of Rights protections against states, a process continuing into the 20th century. The Bill of Rights has become central to American identity and constitutional law, with the First Amendment's speech and religion clauses and the Second Amendment's gun rights generating ongoing debate. It represents the American commitment to individual liberty against government power.

Background

It became a touchstone of American liberties.