The United States of America
Bill of Rights

On September 25, 1789, the First Congress of the United States therefore proposed to the state legislatures 12 amendments to the Constitution that met arguments most frequently advanced against it. The first two proposed amendments, which concerned the number of constituents for each Representative and the compensation of Congressmen, were not ratified. Articles 3 to 12, however, ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures, constitute the first 10 amendments of the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights.

It is important to remember that at the time that the Bill of Rights was ratified, many of the protections that we take for granted were not guaranteed to the average citizen. Since that time, the United States Bill of Rights has been a beacon of freedom of liberty throughout the world with many nations adopting the protections outlined in the Bill of Rights.

This is one of our shorter works. It is small enough that it may be easily shared via e-mail. Please feel free to e-mail this to your friends and family.

Download Links:

The Bill of Rights. (789KB / 4min 29 sec.)

The text was adapted from that provided by the United States National Archives