Ten amendments make up the United States Bill of Rights. They are the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution.
James Madison introduced a set of proposed amendments in the First Congress in 1789. They responded to concerns raised during the Constitution’s ratification debates, especially arguments that the new federal government needed clearer limits and explicit protections for individual liberties.
Congress originally sent twelve amendment proposals to the states. The first two were not ratified at that time, while proposals three through twelve became the ten amendments now known as the Bill of Rights. They were ratified on December 15, 1791.
The amendments address freedoms and legal protections including religion, speech, press, assembly, due process, and protection from unreasonable searches. The Bill of Rights is therefore not a separate founding document; it is the collective name for the Constitution’s first ten amendments.