Constitutional History and Law: Bill of Rights

The first 10 amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, guarantee essential rights and civil liberties, such as the right to free speech, the right to bear arms, and the right to a fair trial, as well as protecting the role of the states in American government.

Amending the federal Constitution to include a bill of rights was the essential political compromise in the creation of the United States government. Even though Federalists believed that individual rights were fully protected by state and common law, they knew that Anti-Federalists would never embrace the new Constitution until amendments protecting specific rights were adopted.

When you think of the US Constitution, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Free speech? The right to bear arms? These passages are cited so often that it's hard to imagine the document without them. But the list of freedoms known as the Bill of Rights was not in the original text and wasn't added for three years. Why not? James Coll goes back to the origins of the Constitution to find out.