Bill of Rights Day

December 15 is a very important date in American history-it is Bill of Rights Day!  On this date in 1791, The Bill of Rights became part of the United States Constitution.

This was only four years after the delegates to Constitutional Convention of Philadelphia signed the Constitution and only three years after the Constitution became the Law of the Land. The Bill of Rights, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are the most important documents in our nation’s founding and history.

In 1787, the Constitution was ratified but there was a sense that something was missing. The Constitution was written to establish a strong federal government. It told what the government could do but not what it couldn’t do. Colonist were skeptical of the government, a mistrust came from the experiences suffered under England’s rule. It was clear that a bill of rights was needed. A bill of rights was proposed by delegate Charles Pinckney on August 20, 1787 but was not adopted by the Committee on Detail. The topic was revisited on September 12, 1787 but was again rejected  Thomas Jefferson argued, “A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.” James Madison took on the task of drafting The Bill of Rights.