Ten amendments make up the United States Bill of Rights, part of the constitutional story behind America250.
The Bill of Rights consists of the First through Tenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. They were ratified on December 15, 1791, after a debate over whether the new federal government needed explicit limits and protections for individual liberties.
Congress originally proposed twelve amendments in 1789. The states ratified ten of them in 1791. The original proposed Article Two was eventually ratified in 1992 as the Twenty-seventh Amendment, while the original Article One remains unratified. Thus, twelve proposals did not become the ten-part Bill of Rights immediately.
The amendments protect freedoms involving religion, speech, the press, assembly, and petition. They also address weapons, searches, criminal proceedings, punishments, and powers reserved to states or the people. The Bill of Rights is distinct from the Declaration of Independence, though both are central documents in the nation’s founding history.