Definition
At the Convention on September 12, 1787, George Mason called for a bill of rights, and the delegates voted the idea down, ten states to none, after Roger Sherman argued that the state declarations of rights were enough. Anti-Federalists kept up the demand during ratification, and Federalists won close votes in Massachusetts, Virginia and New York by promising amendments. James Madison proposed amendments in the House on June 8, 1789, partly to keep that promise and to head off the second national convention that New York wanted. Congress sent twelve amendments to the states in September 1789, and the states ratified ten of them, with Virginia becoming the last state needed on December 15, 1791.
Why it matters on the AP exam
The Bill of Rights is the clearest example of how the Anti-Federalists shaped the Constitution even though they lost the ratification fight, since the amendments protected religious freedom, a free press, jury trials and other rights. They limited only the federal government until the twentieth century, when courts began applying most of them to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment of 1868, and they left the Constitution's protections for slavery in place. The First Amendment became a central issue in 1798, when Republicans said the Sedition Act violated it. Questions ask students to explain why the Convention left out a bill of rights and how the promise of one helped win ratification.
In the sources
“a bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth”
Connections
- Anti-Federalists: demanded a bill of rights throughout the ratification debate
- Ratification of the Constitution: Federalists won close votes by promising to add amendments
- Alien and Sedition Acts: Republicans said the Sedition Act of 1798 violated the First Amendment
- Federalism: its Tenth Amendment reserved powers not given to the nation to the states or the people
Study it in context
Topic 3.8: The Constitutional Convention and Debates over Ratification Watch this part