The Bill of Rights originally proposed 12 amendments, not 10

James Madison wrote the first draft of the Bill of Rights

Madison drafted the initial set of constitutional amendments in 1789. The House approved 17 amendments; the Senate reduced them to 12; and 10 were ratified as the Bill of Rights. One rejected amendment was later ratified in 1992 as the 27th Amendment.

The Bill of Rights was not included in the original Constitution

The Constitution was ratified before a formal list of rights was added. To avoid reopening debates, the Founders approved the core document first, then adopted the Bill of Rights as amendments. Watch this video to find out why, and how, that happened.

Trace how the Bill of Rights, inspired by centuries of political theory, took shape between 1774 and 1789.

3 states did not officially ratify the Bill of Rights until 1939

Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Georgia originally rejected or tabled the amendments in 1791. With Virginia's ratification already clearing the three-fourths threshold of adoption, there was no legal pressure to revisit it—until all three states acted symbolically on the 150th anniversary of Congressional approval of the amendments.

The Bill of Rights spent more than a century largely ignored by the courts

When ratified in 1791, the Bill of Rights applied only to the federal government, which exercised little direct control over daily life. It played a limited role in early constitutional law until the 20th century, when legal advocates began using it to challenge state and local laws.

Thousands of constitutional amendments have failed

Of nearly 12,000 proposed constitutional amendments, only 27 were ratified. This article highlights radical failed proposals that would have renamed the country, abolished the presidency, capped personal wealth, or fundamentally rewritten how American democracy works.

Bill of Rights Day is commemorated annually in the United States on Dec. 15

The date marks the 1791 ratification of the first 10 amendments. President Franklin D. Roosevelt officially established Bill of Rights Day in 1941, on the document's 150th anniversary. Hear the speech he gave on that day.

The US Constitution has been amended 27 different times since its ratification

Dive deeper into each amendment to the Constitution with resources provided by the National Constitution Center. This website features podcasts, videos, and other web resources for each of the amendments, examining their creation and their impact on today’s political and social landscape.

10 of the original 14 copies of the Bill of Rights still exist

Clerks produced 13 copies for the states, plus one federal copy. Today, eight states still hold theirs. Georgia's and New York's were likely burned, Pennsylvania's was stolen, and Maryland's whereabouts remain unknown.

The 10th Amendment affirms that most undelegated powers remain with the states

Adopted to reassure skeptics of an overly powerful federal government, the amendment was meant to curb federal overreach and preserve state control over most everyday governance decisions.

Why Congress doesn't have term limits

Eighty-seven percent of Americans want term limits for Congress. So why don't they exist? The Founders debated this in 1787 and chose not to include them, believing elections would be enough. In the 1990s, 23 states tried to make it happen—until the Supreme Court struck them all down in a 5-4 decision.

The Reconstruction Amendments aimed to rebuild the nation and secure freedom after slavery

Ratified between 1865 and 1870 after the conclusion of the war, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments abolished slavery, guaranteed citizenship and equal protection, and extended voting rights to Black men—transforming the Constitution's definition of liberty and equality.

The 22nd Amendment was a reaction to Roosevelt's four terms

After Franklin D. Roosevelt won four elections, Congress moved to prevent future presidents from holding power indefinitely. Ratified in 1951, the 22nd Amendment set a firm two-term limit as a safeguard against extended presidencies.

Rhode Island skipped the Constitutional Convention

Delegates from 12 of the original 13 states attended the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Rhode Island initially refused to participate, fearing centralized power. The state eventually joined the new republic after its ratification.

Despite being favored by 87% of Americans, Congress does not have term limits.

The Articles of Confederation were not a federal system

Ratified in 1781, the Articles of Confederation left the states sovereign and independent, denied the national government power to tax or regulate commerce, and forced Congress to act through the states—exposing the limits of confederation and paving the way for US federalism.

In the 1930s, Congress nearly passed a constitutional amendment requiring a national vote before declaring war

The Ludlow Amendment, proposed amid rising isolationism after World War I, would have required a national referendum before Congress could declare war, except in cases of direct attack. It was defeated 209 to 188 in 1938 after Roosevelt lobbied against it.

The Seventh Amendment guarantees the right to a jury trial in federal civil cases

Ratified in 1791, this amendment applies to cases where more than $20 is at stake—an amount that has never been adjusted for inflation.

Read the resolutions of the Stamp Act Congress

Adopted October 19, 1765, the resolutions argued that taxation without colonial consent violated the British constitution, that admiralty courts without juries subverted English liberties, and that paying the tax in hard currency was practically impossible. Each grievance was framed not as rebellion but as a defense of rights the colonists already believed they possessed.

Since its inception in 1938, Congress has raised the federal minimum wage 22 times

If you want all the details about when and why these rate increases happened check out this resource from the US Department of Labor.

The 21st Amendment was the only amendment to repeal another

The 1933 constitutional amendment rolled back 1920's 18th Amendment, better known as Prohibition, which outlawed "the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors."

The Great Compromise created Congress's two-chamber structure during the Constitutional Convention

The Great Compromise of 1787 established a bicameral Congress, balancing population-based representation in the House with equal representation for each state in the Senate—a system designed to reconcile the competing interests of large and small states.

The 16th Amendment paved the way for capital gains taxes

Ratified in 1913, the 16th Amendment paved the way for a far-reaching federal income tax and supercharged the country’s coffers. Before then, the US depended on import tariffs and so-called consumption taxes to raise revenue.

The Eighth Amendment prevents cruel and unusual punishment and was borrowed from England

The exact wording of the amendment came from England's Bill of Rights, written more than a century before America's. Today, the Eighth Amendment governs death penalty standards, prison conditions, and sentencing limits, though its interpretation remains actively contested.

The US once had a $100K bill

There are currently seven denominations of paper money, with the highest value reaching $100. But there used to be more that have since been discontinued, including bills that sported the faces of President William McKinley and President James Madison.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

The Depression-era Social Security program assigned every US citizen an account number

Many of the Social Security functions we know today are the result of multiple amendments to the Social Security Act that have been passed in the years since the act’s initial creation in 1935. As Social Security as we know it today was being conceptualized, Democrats opted to make it an insurance program rather than a welfare one to assuage Republicans.

The 12 tables: Rome's attempt to fairly enforce the law

It's unclear exactly why ancient Romans drafted the Laws of the Twelve Tables in the mid-400s BCE, but the result was a collection of precisely worded, written laws that could be made known to everyone. This article explores the history and importance of these 12 bronze tables, which were an attempt to make the law equally applicable to all and were destroyed when Rome was attacked in 390 BCE.

Meet the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence—most of whom didn't put pen to paper until August 2, 1776—and see their original signatures.

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

The power and influence of the American presidency have expanded significantly over time—far beyond what the founders envisioned.

Before the current East Wing ballroom project, only two White House renovations in the past 100 years cost more than $10M.

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

11 people died from firework injuries in the US in 2024.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

English mathematician Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer algorithm a century before computers existed and hypothesized that computing devices would one day be able to compose music—foreseeing the generative AI systems of today.

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

Corals are themselves not coral reefs—the term refers to the tiny marine invertebrates that build the rigid reef.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.