Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution (known as the Bill of Rights) spell out those inalienable rights for which the 13 colonies, in 1776, had defied England; and for the greater security of which, 11 years later, they gave up some of the powers of nation-statehood to create a more perfect union. Many of these rights were already deeply rooted in English common law and in the aspirations and struggles of the peoples of many countries who came to the New World.