J ames Madison introduced amendments in the First Congress, drawing upon state declarations of rights and ratification proposals. Congress sent twelve amendments to the states in 1789; ten were ratified by 1791 and became the Bill of Rights. They protect religious exercise and prohibit national establishment of religion; safeguard speech, press, assembly and petition; recognize the right to keep and bear arms; restrict quartering; guard against unreasonable searches; protect due process, jury trial and rights of the accused; prohibit cruel and unusual punishment; and affirm that listing certain rights does not deny others retained by the people. The Tenth Amendment reserves undelegated powers to the states or the people. Originally, the Bill of Rights constrained the federal government, not the states. After the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment and subsequent judicial decisions gradually applied most of its protections against state governments. Constitutional liberty therefore developed across generations rather than arriving complete in 1791.
“The Bill of Rights is a reminder that dissent can strengthen a republic-and that liberty is safest when power must answer to principle.”
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