The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution are collectively called the Bill of Rights, a founding text remembered by America250.
Congress proposed twelve amendments in 1789, but the states ratified ten of them by December 15, 1791. The amendments protect liberties and place limits on federal power, including freedoms of speech and religion, protections against unreasonable searches, and rights of people accused of crimes.
The two proposals that were not initially ratified dealt with congressional apportionment and congressional pay. The congressional-pay proposal was eventually ratified in 1992 as the Twenty-seventh Amendment, while the apportionment proposal remains unratified.
The Bill of Rights was influenced by earlier English and colonial declarations of rights, including the Virginia Declaration of Rights. It is distinct from the Articles of Confederation, which served as the United States’ first constitution, and from the Declaration of Independence, which announced the colonies’ separation from Britain.