American National Government - POSC 111 Resource Guide

The Bill of Rights, ten amendments designed to limit the power of the national government, was added to the U.S. Constitution in 1791. The amendments concern four subjects.

The roots of the Bill of Rights—the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution—lie deep in Anglo-American history. In 1215 England’s King John, under pressure from rebellious barons, put his seal to Magna Carta, which protected subjects against royal abuses of power.

The document that emerged from the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 has become the longest-lived national constitution in the world, fulfilling Chief Justice John Marshall’s vision that it was “meant to endure for ages to come, and to meet the various crises of human affairs” (McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819).

Under the Articles of Confederation, which were drafted in 1776, approved by Congress in 1777, and finally fully ratified in 1781, the U.S. national government was weak and inefficient, while relations between the states proved chaotic and often hostile. There was no real executive power provided, and a judicial branch was entirely absent.

Document embodying the fundamental principles upon which the American republic is conducted. Drawn up at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787,

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Bill of Rights was put forward during the period of ratification (final approval) of the Constitution. Twelve amendments were proposed by Congress in 1789; the ten now called the Bill of Rights were ratified in 1791.

Established in 1999, the Institute is a 501(c)(3) not for profit charity focused on providing educational resources on America’s Founding documents and principles for teachers and students of American History and Civics.

National Archives America's Founding Documents

When armed conflict between bands of American colonists and British soldiers began in April 1775, the Americans were ostensibly fighting only for their rights as subjects of the British crown. By the following summer, with the Revolutionary War in full swing, the movement for independence from Britain had grown, and delegates of the Continental Congress were faced with a vote on the issue.

The U.S. Constitution established America's national government and fundamental laws, and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens. It was signed on September 17, 1787, by delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, presided over by George Washington.