What is the Bill of Rights?

The Bill of Rights spells out specific limits on the government's power. Congress originally proposed 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution in 1789, but only 10 of those were ratified. At that time, the Bill of Rights gave the people more confidence the new Constitution would protect their liberties. To this day, it contains many of the freedoms America value most.

To learn more about the Bill of Rights and read each amendment, visit the National Archives website.

Check out this 60-second Civics Podcast explaining why we have a Bill of Rights.

Want to try your hand at your knowledge of the Bill of Rights? Play Do I Have A Right? from iCivics!

Below you can read the Bill of Rights: