The United States Bill of Rights consists of 10 amendments to the Constitution.
Congress approved and sent 12 proposed amendments to the states in 1789. The proposals were intended to address concerns raised by Anti-Federalists and other critics of the new federal government. James Madison played the leading role in shaping the amendments presented to Congress.
States ratified Articles Three through Twelve of the congressional proposal on December 15, 1791. These became Amendments One through Ten and are collectively known as the Bill of Rights. The original first proposal was not ratified, while the original second proposal eventually became the Twenty-seventh Amendment in 1992.
The ten amendments protect or define rights involving religion, speech, press, assembly, criminal procedure, arms, searches, trials, and powers reserved to the states or people. The Bill of Rights is therefore not the full Constitution, but its first ten amendments.