Table 3.1
Content of the Bill of Rights
Consisting of barely 450 words, the Bill of Rights (Amendments I through X) was intended to remedy a defect critics found in the Constitution of 1787. In September 1789, Congress proposed twelve amendments for approval by the states. As the eleventh state (three-fourths of fourteen), Virginia’s ratification in December 1791 made the Bill of Rights officially part of the Constitution. The remaining three states—Connecticut, Georgia, and Massachusetts—did not ratify until the 150th anniversary of the Bill of Rights in 1941. One amendment was never ratified. It dealt with apportionment of the House of Representatives and is now obsolete. The other amendment was not ratified until 1992—more than two hundred years after it was proposed! The Twenty-seventh Amendment—called the “lost amendment”—delays any increase in congressional salaries until a congressional election has intervened.
Amendment I Nonestablishment of religion; free exercise of religion; freedoms of speech, press, petition, and peaceable assembly
Amendment II Keep and bear arms
Amendment III No quartering of troops
Amendment IV No unreasonable searches and seizures; standards for search warrants
Amendment V Indictment by grand jury; no double jeopardy or self-incrimination; no deprivation of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; compensation for taking of private property
Amendment VI Speedy and public trial by impartial jury in state and district where crime was committed; nature and cause of accusation; confrontation of accusers; compulsory process for witnesses; assistance of counsel
Amendment VII Jury trial in certain civil cases
Amendment VIII No excessive bail or fines; no cruel and unusual punishments
Amendment IX Recognition of the existence of rights not enumerated
Amendment X Reserved powers of the states
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