Ten amendments make up the Bill of Rights, a founding-era landmark remembered by America250. They are the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution and were ratified on December 15, 1791.
James Madison helped guide the amendments through Congress after studying objections raised by Anti-Federalists during the Constitution’s ratification debate. Congress originally approved and submitted twelve proposed articles to the states in 1789, not ten. The first and second proposed articles were not initially ratified.
The remaining ten proposals became Amendments One through Ten. They protect freedoms including religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition, while also addressing criminal procedure, jury trials, and limits on federal power. The second proposed article eventually became the Twenty-seventh Amendment in 1992, which explains why the original twelve proposals did not simply become twelve amendments in 1791.