The Constitution
Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments, ratified in 1791. They were the price several states demanded for ratifying the Constitution at all.
In full
Anti-Federalists objected that a government of enumerated powers still needed explicit limits, and several states ratified on the understanding that amendments would follow. Madison drafted them in the First Congress. Originally they restrained only the federal government; most have since been applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.
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Browse every term in the glossary, or see the vocabulary in motion in the How government works walkthroughs.
A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.