"The Conventions of a number of the States having, at the time of adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added, and as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government will best insure the beneficent ends of its institution;
Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two-thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as amendments to the Constitution of the United States; all or any of which articles, when ratified by three-fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the said Constitution, namely:"
One of the original fourteen copies of the Bill of Rights is currently on display at the National Archives in Washington,D.C.
Amendments One to Ten of the Constitution
- Amendment One
- Amendment Two
- Amendment Three
- Amendment Four
- Amendment Five
- Amendment Six
- Amendment Seven
- Amendment Eight
- Amendment Nine
- Amendment Ten
Important Information
"Drafting the Bill of Rights James Madison, the "Father of the Constitution," may also be considered the "Father of the Bill of Rights." In his campaign for a seat in the House of Representatives under the new Constitution, he promised his voters that he would energetically push for the adoption of a bill of rights. True to his word, he took the lead in the First Congress in pressing for the desired amendments.
On June 8, 1789, drawing from proposals made by the various state ratifying conventions, Madison proposed to the Congress nine amendments to the Constitution, containing nineteen specific provisions (many of which are now contained in the Bill of Rights). Madison and members of a House committee then went through the complex process of drafting a bill that would secure the necessary two-thirds approval of both houses of Congress. The House and the Senate modified some of Madison's proposals, eliminated others entirely, and added some new ones as well.
As it finally emerged from Congress, the proposed Bill of Rights consisted of twelve amendments and was offered to the states for ratification. The first two proposed amendments were never ratified by the states. (One was related to the size of the House of Representatives and the other to laws regarding the compensation, or payment, for senators and representatives.) On December 15, 1791, Virginia ratified the remaining ten amendments, and the Bill of Rights officially became part of the Constitution." source
"The Declaration of rights is like all other human blessings alloyed with some inconveniences... But the good in this instance vastly outweighs the evil." "If we cannot secure all our rights, let us secure what we can." -Letter from Jefferson to James Madison, dated March 15, 1789-