The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, a document linked to America250’s founding story.
The amendments were proposed by Congress in 1789 and ratified by the states in 1791. They addressed concerns that the new Constitution did not sufficiently protect individual liberties or limit federal power.
The Bill of Rights protects freedoms involving religion, speech, the press, assembly, and petition. It also addresses firearms, quartering soldiers, searches and seizures, criminal procedure, jury trials, and limits on federal authority.
James Madison introduced the amendments in the House of Representatives, drawing on proposals from the states. The original package contained twelve proposed amendments, but only ten were ratified in 1791. One of the two unratified proposals later became the Twenty-seventh Amendment, while the other concerned representation in Congress.