United States Bill of Rights

United States Bill of Rights
First page of an original copy of the twelve proposed articles of amendment, as passed by Congress
Created	September 25, 1789
Ratified	December 15, 1791
Location	National Archives
Author(s)	1st United States Congress, mainly James Madison
Purpose	To amend the Constitution of the United States

This article is part of a series on the
Constitution of the United States of America
Preamble and Articles of the Constitution
Preamble I II III IV V VI VII
Amendments to the Constitution
Bill of Rights I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX XXI XXII XXIII XXIV XXV XXVI XXVII
Proposed Amendments
Congressional Apportionment Titles of Nobility Corwin Child Labor Equal Rights D.C. Voting Rights
History
History Articles of Confederation Convention Federalism Republicanism
Full text of the Constitution and Amendments
Preamble & Articles I–VII Amendments I–X Amendments XI–XXVII Unratified Amendments
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The Bill of Rights is the name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, which limit the power of the federal government and guarantee citizens of the United States certain rights. The amendments were written in 1789 by James Madison, and were based on important ideas about personal rights. The Bill of Rights went into effect in 1791, when 3/4 of the states agreed that they were fair. Originally, the Bill of Rights had 12 different amendments, but the first two were not passed by enough states. The second amendment that was not passed was eventually added to the Constitution in 1992, becoming the 27th amendment in the Constitution.