12 Questions About The Bill Of Rights

12 Questions About The Bill Of Rights — page 1 — What is the Bill of Rights The Bill of Rights is a list of additions to the US Constitution The additions are called amendments They were added after the Constitution was written After the American Revolution the citizens of the new United States needed to form a government They wanted it to be different from the British government they had just rebelled against A group of leaders gathered in 1787 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania They included George Washington Benjamin Franklin James Madison and George Mason Together they wrote a set of rules and laws These rules would govern the new land The rules became the US Constitution The Constitution established a strong federal government But Some felt that the Constitution went O Benjamin Franklin was one of the leaders who helped write a set of laws for the newly formed United States of

12 Questions About The Bill Of Rights — page 2 — too far They feared a strong federal government would limit individual rights They thought it might also limit the rights of the 13 states The people had lived under the strong control of England They wanted to make sure that would not happen again That is where the Bill of Rights came in The amendments in the Bill of Rights ensure personal freedoms The former colonists wanted to safeguard the rights that were in short supply under England s King George Ill They limit the government's power They give certain powers to individual 10 Number of amendments in the Bill of Rights states Without the Bill of Rights Americans might not enjoy many of the freedoms they have today GO TO THE SOURCE The Bill of Rights is a list of amendments to the US Constitution Americans did not want their federal government to be too strong This document ensures certain freedoms for individuals It also makes clear which powers belong to states and which belong to the federal government To read the full text of the Bill of Rights go to www 12StoryLibrary com

12 Questions About The Bill Of Rights — page 3 — Why was the Bill of Rights Added to the Constitution Some writers of the Constitution Virginia delegate George Mason believed it was fine as written This had concerns They believed the group was led by important men of Constitution gave too much power to the time They included Alexander the government Madison eventually Hamilton and John Jay of changed his mind and New York and future helped develop the Bill US president James of Rights James Madison Madison of Virginia initially thought the Congress agreed But a group led by Constitution was on 12 amendments fine as written to the Constitution The states needed to ratify or approve each of them The states FAILED AMENDMENTS Many different amendments were suggested for the Bill of Rights Some of them suggested ideas that seem strange to us today One amendment proposed that no US citizen should have a title of nobility such as that of king or

12 Questions About The Bill Of Rights — page 4 — The George Mason Memorial in Washington DC commemorates the man credited for making the Bill of Rights possible rejected two amendments One limited the number of 19 representatives in Congress The other would have kept members of Congress from giving themselves Number of amendments Madison originally proposed pay raises The remaining 10 amendments became the Bill of Rights in 1791 Today additional amendments have been added to the Constitution Some writers of the Constitution did not want the Bill of Rights added Two amendments were rejected by the states and did not make it to the Bill of Rights The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution in 1791 The actual Bill of Rights however consists of just the first 10

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