ADD ONE/BILL OF RIGHTS FAQS
The Constitution was signed by 39 delegates on September 17, 1787, at the Pennsylvania State
House, now known as Independence Hall, in Philadelphia. Three delegates were present but
refused to sign, in part because of the absence of a bill of rights: George Mason, Edmund
Randolph, and Elbridge Gerry.
After the convention, the absence of a bill of rights emerged as a central part of the ratification
debates. Anti-Federalists, who opposed ratification, viewed its absence as a fatal flaw. Several
states ratified the Constitution on the condition that a bill of rights would be promptly added, and
many even offered suggestions for what to include.
Pauline Maier, author of Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787–1788, noted of
these proponents of a bill of rights:
“Without their determined opposition, the first ten amendments would not have become a part of
the Constitution for later generations to transform into a powerful instrument for the defense of
American freedom. … Their example might well be their greatest gift to posterity.”
Who wrote the Bill of Rights?
After the Constitution was ratified in 1788, James Madison, who had already helped draft much
of the original Constitution, took up the task of drafting a bill of rights. Madison largely drew from
the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which was primarily written by George Mason in 1776 two
months before the Declaration of Independence; he also drew from amendments suggested by
state ratifying conventions.
Madison drafted 19 amendments, which he proposed to Congress on June 8, 1789. The House
of Representatives narrowed those down to 17; then the Senate, with the approval of the
House, narrowed them down to 12. These 12 were approved on September 25, 1789 and sent
to the states for ratification.
When was the Bill of Rights ratified?
The 10 amendments that are now known as the Bill of Rights were ratified on December 15,
1791, thus becoming a part of the Constitution.
The first two amendments in the 12 that Congress proposed to the states were rejected: The
first dealt with apportioning representation in the House of Representatives; the second
prevented members of Congress from voting to change their pay until the next session of
Congress. This original “Second Amendment” was finally added to the Constitution as the 27th
Amendment, more than 200 years later.
Bill of Rights Day is observed on December 15 each year, as called for by a joint resolution of
Congress approved by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941.
Where was the Bill of Rights written?
The Bill of Rights was drafted in New York City, where the federal government was operating
out of Federal Hall in 1789. (The Declaration of Independence and the original, unamended
Constitution were written and signed in Philadelphia.)
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