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N0KFQ > TODAY 25.09.15 16:23l 40 Lines 1731 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 68203_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Sep 25
Path: IW8PGT<CX2SA<N0KFQ
Sent: 150925/1418Z 68203@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.64
1789
Bill of Rights passes Congress
The first Congress of the United States approves 12 amendments to
the U.S. Constitution, and sends them to the states for
ratification. The amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were
designed to protect the basic rights of U.S. citizens,
guaranteeing the freedom of speech, press, assembly, and exercise
of religion; the right to fair legal procedure and to bear arms;
and that powers not delegated to the federal government were
reserved for the states and the people.
Influenced by the English Bill of Rights of 1689, the Bill of
Rights was also drawn from Virginia's Declaration of Rights,
drafted by George Mason in 1776. Mason, a native Virginian, was a
lifelong champion of individual liberties, and in 1787 he
attended the Constitutional Convention and criticized the final
document for lacking constitutional protection of basic political
rights. In the ratification process that followed, Mason and
other critics agreed to approve the Constitution in exchange for
the assurance that amendments would immediately be adopted.
In December 1791, Virginia became the 10th of 14 states to
approve 10 of the 12 amendments, thus giving the Bill of Rights
the two-thirds majority of state ratification necessary to make
it legal. Of the two amendments not ratified, the first concerned
the population system of representation, while the second
prohibited laws varying the payment of congressional members from
taking effect until an election intervened. The first of these
two amendments was never ratified, while the second was finally
ratified more than 200 years later, in 1992.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
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