The Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights is the First Ten Amendments to the US Constitution, which were passed all at once by the First United States Congress in 1791. These Amendments are a very important part of the Constitution that protect certain rights of American citizens from being taken away by the government, including freedom of religion, freedom to bear arms and the right to trial by jury.

This document also played a very important part in the passing of the Constitution in the first place. Many individuals and state conventions were concerned when the Constitution was proposed that it did not adequately protect the rights of the citizens. Because of this, many individuals were against the Constitution as it was written. Several state governments decided they would vote to accept the Constitution only if a Bill of Rights was added. A Bill of Rights is a clearly spelled list of the rights of the people that the government cannot meddle with.

In the end, it was agreed that the Constitution would be accepted as it was written, with the promise that the First Congress would examine the various proposed rights and would add some amendments to the constitution that would cover these concerns. All amendments had to be passed by 3/4 of the states to be added to the Constitution, so this process ensured that the people's concerns about their rights would be addressed. The states passed ten amendments that became law on December 15, 1791. These Ten Amendments are also known as the Bill of Rights. Read it here. Then come back to this page for links to various aspects of its history, parts and purpose.

The American Bill of Rights was influenced by the English Bill of Rights of 1689 and the Virginia Declaration of Rights by George Mason. The English Bill of Rights guaranteed the rights of the citizens of England from the King.  The Virginia Declaration of Rights was a primary influence used by Thomas Jefferson when he wrote the Declaration of Independence. The Bill of Rights guarantees all Americans freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of speech and many other rights. Learn more about the history of the Bill of Rights here.

What was the purpose of the Bill of Rights? It eris the written guarantee that the government of the United States will not encroach on certain God-given rights of the people. These ten amendments were added to the Constitution by the First Congress because many people believed that if these rights were not specifically mentioned as being off limits to the politicians, future politicians could try to take these rights away. Learn more about the Bill of Rights' purpose here.

You can view pictures of the Bill of Rights in this section. There are pictures of the original document that is now housed at the National Archives. You can view original pictures of the various proposed amendments, as well as letters from George Washington, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson revealing their opinions about it. View the Pictures here.

The First Amendment is one of the most well known parts of the US Constitution. It forbids the Congress from making any "law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press..." If it weren't for the First Amendment, politicians could dictate to you how you could or could not express faith in God, what you could say or could not say in public and who you could or could not gather together with. It is a bedrock of our freedom in this country. Learn more about the First Amendment and the different rights it protects here.

The first Ten Amendments are collectively known as the Bill of Rights. Each right mentioned, including freedom of religion, freedom to assemble, freedom from cruel and unusual punishment and freedom not to incriminate oneself at trial, is guaranteed to American citizens. This section will give information about each of the first Ten Amendments with details about the rights covered in each one.

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