Bill of Rights (may 4, 1789 – sep 4, 1791)

Description:

September 17, 1781: delegates signed the new Constitution (had to be approved by 9 of 13 states to become law)

Sparked debate: supporters of the Constitution were Federalists, others were Antifederalists

Federalists: argued for a better balance between state & government (wrote Federalist Papers)

Antifederalists: feared that the Constitution gave the central government too much power and wanted a Bill of Rights to protect the rights of individual citizens

Federalists promised to add a Bill of Rights to the Constitution to gain support: cleared the way for approval

1789: George Washington was elected president and the Constitution was made:

1791: Congress formally added 10 amendments to the Constitution known as the Bill of Rights: which protected basic rights such as freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion (many of these rights had been advocated by Voltaire, Locke, and Rosseau


The Constitution & Bill of Rights marked a turning point in people's ideas about government
- put Enlightenment ideas into practice

- expressed an optimistic view that reason and reform could prevail and that progress was inevitable: optimism spread across the Atlantic

- monarchies & privileged classes did not want to give up power: the struggle to attain the principles of the Enlightenment led to violent revolution in France

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