Ten amendments make up the Bill of Rights, the first amendments to the U.S. Constitution remembered in America250 history.
The Bill of Rights consists of the first ten amendments, ratified on December 15, 1791. They protect liberties including freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition, while also addressing criminal procedure, arms, searches, and federal powers.
James Madison introduced twelve proposed amendments to Congress in 1789. The states ratified ten of them, while the original proposed First and Second Amendments did not initially receive enough approvals. The surviving proposed Second Amendment eventually became the Twenty-Seventh Amendment in 1992.
The Bill of Rights was shaped by concerns from Anti-Federalists and other critics who feared that the new federal government might threaten individual liberties. It is therefore different from the Declaration of Independence, which announced political separation from Britain, and from the Constitution itself, which established the federal framework.