The Constitution of the United States of America is the document that
created the federal government. The first ten amendments, or changes,
to the Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights
was inspired by suggestions from members of the state legislatures that
approved the Constitution in 1788.
Concerns about the Constitution
The Constitution was written by the Constitutional Convention in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1787. The Convention contained delegates from twelve of the original thirteen colonies, later states. The delegates gathered at the Convention to improve the national government
that existed under an agreement called the Articles of Confederation,
which had been adopted in 1781.
After writing the Constitution through the summer of 1787, the
Convention delegates sent it to the thirteen states for ratification, or approval. The Constitution stated that it would become effective upon ratification by at least nine states. The Constitution had strong support
from influential politicians who wanted the United States to have a powerful central government. These people were known as Federalists; they
were members of the Federalist Party.
Many Americans had great concerns about creating a strong federal
government. Called Anti-Federalists, these people preferred that state
governments have more power than the national government. While the
Anti-Federalists objected to several parts of the Constitution, they focused their opposition on the absence of a bill of rights. In doing so, they
hoped to gather enough popular opposition to prevent the Constitution
from being ratified by the states.
A bill of rights is a document that specifies the rights of citizens that
cannot be violated by a government. A bill of rights was not a new idea
in 1787. Several states had a bill of rights in their state constitutions, including the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Massachusetts Bill
of Rights. There were older examples from English history: the Magna
Carta (1215), the Petition of Right (1628), and the Bill of Rights
(1689). Supporters of the idea found inspiration in the writings of
philosophers John Locke (1632–1704), John Milton (1608–1674), and
Thomas Paine (1737–1809).
Most Federalists either did not believe or were not too concerned
that basic rights could be violated by the government set forth in the
Constitution. They pursued the ratification of the Constitution as written by the Constitutional Convention, without a bill of rights. As the
state conventions met to discuss ratification after the summer of 1787,
however, it became apparent that the Anti-Federalists had mustered support for the notion of a bill of rights.
To convince the Anti-Federalist delegates to vote for ratification, the
Federalists agreed to seek a federal bill of rights. As the state conventions
began to approve the Constitution, they proposed more than one hundred amendments for the protection of individual liberties. By the time
the Constitution was ratified by the required nine states in 1788, it was
obvious that a bill of rights would have to be adopted.
Writing a bill of rights
The first U.S. House of Representatives assembled early in April 1789
with the Federalists in control of the government. (See Legislative
Branch.) James Madison (1751–1836), a Federalist and the primary
author of the Constitution, assumed leadership for creating a bill of
rights. His personal plan was to write a bill of rights that would appease
the Anti-Federalists without detracting from the powers of the federal
government.
On June 8, 1789, Madison proposed that the House begin consideration of eight resolutions on amendments to the Constitution. The
amendments were sent to a committee of ten members, including
Madison, on July 21. Eventually the committee recommended a total of
fourteen amendments to be considered by the full House of
Representatives. After lengthy debate, the House voted that the amendments should not be written into the existing Constitution but should
be added as a supplement. On August 24, the House proposed seventeen
amendments to be sent to the Senate for its consideration.
The Senate began its debate the following week. Senate concerns
prevented the passage of the amendments, so a committee of three U.S.
senators and three U.S. congressmen gathered in September. They
worked out a compromise agreement consisting of twelve amendments.
Both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed the amendments and forwarded them to President George Washington
(1732–1799; served 1789–97) to be sent to the states for ratification.
The original Constitution provides that amendments do not become effective unless ratified by at least three-fourths of the states. Two
of the twelve amendments proposed by Congress in 1789 failed to be
ratified, but the required number of states approved the other ten
amendments by December 15, 1791.
The Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights contains rights and freedoms that the government of
the United States is not supposed to violate. The freedoms of religion,
speech, the press, and assembly (the right to gather in a group) are set
forth in the First Amendment. The Second Amendment protects the
right to bear arms. The Third Amendment prevents the government
from forcing a homeowner to house a soldier during peacetime against
the owner’s consent. The Fourth Amendment prohibits the government
from conducting unreasonable searches and seizures of people and their
property. The protection of life, liberty, and property also appears in the
Fifth Amendment.
The right to fair treatment in legal cases against a citizen appears in
the Fifth Amendment, Sixth Amendment, Seventh Amendment, and
Eighth Amendment. The Ninth Amendment says the provision of specific rights in the Constitution does not imply the denial of other rights.
Finally, the Tenth Amendment says governmental power not given to the federal government by the Constitution is retained by the states and
the people.
The Bill of Rights is a popular and controversial part of the
Constitution. Many citizens celebrate it as the bedrock of freedom in
America. Other citizens believe federal power has grown stronger than
the rights and freedoms that the Bill of Rights is supposed to protect.
Important Supreme Court decisions often depend on the interpretation
of the Bill of Rights. More than two centuries after its adoption, the Bill
of Rights retains an important role in drawing the line between fair and
unfair government actions and between the rights of citizens as individuals and as collective members of a society.