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The United States Bill of Rights, comprising the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, was ratified on December 15, 1791. The amendments were designed to limit government power and protect individual liberties, such as freedom of speech, the right to publish, practice religion, and assemble. James Madison, then a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, proposed the amendments to address objections raised by Anti-Federalists and secure ratification of the Constitution.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date the 10 amendments were proposed | 25 September 1789 |
| Date the 10 amendments were ratified | 15 December 1791 |
| Number of amendments proposed | 12 |
| Number of amendments ratified | 10 |
| Name of the 10 amendments | Bill of Rights |
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What You'll Learn
The Bill of Rights
Articles Three through Twelve were ratified as additions to the Constitution on December 15, 1791, and became Amendments One through Ten. In 1992, 203 years after it was proposed, Article Two was ratified as the 27th Amendment to the Constitution. Article One was never ratified. The Bill of Rights became law on December 15, 1791, when ten of the proposed twelve amendments were ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures.
The concepts codified in these amendments build upon those in earlier documents, especially the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776), the Northwest Ordinance (1787), the English Bill of Rights (1689), and the Magna Carta (1215). The Bill of Rights has been on permanent display in the Rotunda of the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C., since 2015.
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Ratification of Articles 3-12
The Bill of Rights, which comprises the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, was proposed following the 1787–88 debate over the ratification of the Constitution. On September 25, 1789, the First Congress of the United States proposed 12 amendments to the Constitution, officially submitting them to the Legislatures of the several States for consideration on September 28, 1789.
Articles 3–12 were ratified as additions to the Constitution on December 15, 1791, and became Amendments 1 through 10 of the Constitution. The ratified Articles constitute the first 10 amendments of the Constitution, or the U.S. Bill of Rights.
The following states ratified Articles 3–12:
- New Jersey: on November 20, 1789
- Maryland: on December 19, 1789
- North Carolina: on December 22, 1789
- South Carolina: on January 19, 1790
- New Hampshire: on January 25, 1790
- Delaware: on January 28, 1790
- New York: on February 24, 1790
- Pennsylvania: on March 10, 1790
Articles One and Two did not receive enough support from the states to be ratified. Article Two became part of the Constitution on May 5, 1992, as the 27th Amendment. Article One is still pending before the states.
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The First Congress
The 12 amendments proposed by the First Congress were sent to the states for ratification. Ten of these amendments were ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures on December 15, 1791, and became the first 10 amendments of the Constitution, also known as the Bill of Rights. These amendments added specific guarantees of personal freedoms to the Constitution, such as freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, the right to assemble, and other natural and legal rights. They also included explicit limitations on the government's power, reserving powers not delegated to the federal government to the states or the people.
The remaining two amendments proposed by the First Congress, Articles One and Two, did not receive enough state ratifications to become part of the Constitution at that time. Article Two eventually became part of the Constitution on May 5, 1992, as the 27th Amendment, but Article One has still not been ratified.
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The date: December 15, 1791
On December 15, 1791, a significant event in American history took place: the ratification of the Bill of Rights, comprising the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. This date marked a pivotal moment in the nation's constitutional development, addressing key concerns raised by Anti-Federalists during the 1787-88 debate over the ratification of the Constitution.
The Bill of Rights added specific guarantees of personal freedoms and natural rights to the Constitution, including the freedom of speech, the right to publish, freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, and protection against unreasonable government intrusion, among others. These amendments were designed to limit the power of the federal government and protect individual liberties, addressing the fears of Anti-Federalists, who desired power to remain with state and local governments.
The process of amending the Constitution is outlined in Article Five, which requires proposals to be properly made and ratified before becoming operative. In the case of the Bill of Rights, the First Congress of the United States proposed twelve amendments on September 25, 1789. Ten of these proposed amendments were ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures on December 15, 1791, becoming Amendments One through Ten of the Constitution.
The ratification of these amendments was a collaborative effort, with Virginia's legislature being the final state to approve them on that date. It is worth noting that while Articles Three through Twelve were ratified as additions to the Constitution, Article One is still pending, and Article Two became part of the Constitution much later in 1992 as the Twenty-seventh Amendment.
The date, December 15, 1791, holds a significant place in American history, as it marked the adoption of fundamental rights and freedoms that continue to shape the nation's laws and governance.
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The 27th Amendment
The 1st Congress submitted the amendment to the states for ratification on September 25, 1789, along with 11 other proposed amendments (Articles I-XII). However, the 27th Amendment was not ratified by enough states to come into force with the other amendments, which became the Bill of Rights in 1791. The proposed amendment was largely forgotten until 1982, when Gregory Watson, a 19-year-old student at the University of Texas at Austin, wrote a paper arguing that the states could still ratify the amendment. Watson launched a nationwide campaign for its ratification, and in 1992, enough states had approved the amendment for it to become part of the Constitution. The Archivist of the United States, Don W. Wilson, certified the ratification on May 18, 1992, and Congress confirmed this on May 20, 1992.
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Frequently asked questions
The first 10 amendments to the US Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified on December 15, 1791.
Since 1789, there have been approximately 11,848 proposals to amend the US Constitution.
There have been 27 ratified amendments to the US Constitution.
