What name is given to the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution?

The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution are called the Bill of Rights.

Congress proposed twelve amendments in 1789, but only ten were ratified by the required number of states at that time. They became part of the Constitution on December 15, 1791. The amendments protect liberties and set limits on federal power, including freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.

The Bill of Rights also addresses arms, quartering soldiers, searches, criminal procedure, jury trials, punishments, and the relationship between listed federal powers and retained rights. James Madison introduced the amendments in the First Congress, responding partly to concerns raised by Anti-Federalists during ratification.

The two amendments proposed in 1789 that did not initially become part of the Bill of Rights had different later histories. One eventually became the Twenty-Seventh Amendment in 1992; the other concerned congressional apportionment and was never ratified.