Constitutional text · 1791

The Bill of Rights

Proposed by the First Congress on September 25, 1789, largely from drafts by James Madison, the first ten amendments guarantee freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly and petition, the right to keep and bear arms, protections for the accused, trial by jury, and the reservation of undelegated powers to the states or the people. Congress sent twelve amendments to the states; ten were ratified by December 15, 1791, and another became the Twenty-seventh Amendment in 1992.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

James Madison (principal drafter); proposed by the First Congress, December 15, 1791

Why it matters

Promised during ratification to answer Anti-Federalist fears of a powerful central government, the Bill of Rights originally limited only the federal government; after the Fourteenth Amendment, courts applied most of its guarantees to the states as well.

Read the full text at archives.gov

Primary Source

The original record, reproduced or linked from the institution that holds it. Primary sources show what people said and did in their own words.

Subjects

founding bill of rights religious liberty free speech second amendment

From the library

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