What is the name of the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution?

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution are called the Bill of Rights.

Congress proposed twelve amendments on September 25, 1789, largely through the efforts of Representative James Madison. The proposals responded to Anti-Federalist concerns that the new Constitution did not adequately protect individual freedoms or limit federal power.

The states ratified ten of the twelve proposed articles on December 15, 1791. These became Amendments One through Ten and protected freedoms including religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. They also addressed searches, criminal procedure, jury trials, punishment, and reserved powers.

The original proposed articles were numbered differently from the final amendments. The proposed second article was eventually ratified in 1992 as the Twenty-seventh Amendment, while the proposed first article remains unratified. This is why the Bill of Rights contains ten amendments even though Congress originally sent twelve to the states.