Following the often bitter 1787–88 debate over the ratification of the
American Constitution, Representative James Madison crafted a series of corrective proposals, Congress approved twelve articles of amendment on September 25, 1789, and submitted them to the states for ratification. Articles Three through Twelve were ratified as additions to the Constitution on December 15, 1791, and became Amendments One through Ten of the Constitution. These first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, collectively known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified on December 15, 1791. Below is the first page of an original copy of the twelve proposed articles of amendment, as passed by Congress.
The Bill of Rights was ratified is significant to church history because of its first Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." This amendment was the result of long centuries of efforts by religious groups such as the Quakers and Baptists to obtain religious liberty.
George Washington had a copy of the Bill of Rights created for each state. North Carolina's copy was stolen in 1865 by a Union Soldier. It was recovered in 2003 by a FBI sting operation.
In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared December 15 to be Bill of Rights Day, commemorating the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights.
There are several original engrossed copies of the Bill of Rights still in existence. One of these is on permanent public display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
