The opening phrase of our Constitution’s preamble, “We the People,” spoke volumes regarding upon whose authority the Constitution rested and suggested the unanimity of country and purpose that this new Constitution would create. The document is a 4,543-word masterpiece of political thought that has stood the test of time and is the longest standing written constitution in the world.

One of the most troublesome questions at the Constitutional Convention was what to do about slavery. Not whether it should be abolished by the new Constitution, but whether slaves would be counted in the census and if the states or the central government would control the institution and what that control would look like. All delegates recognized the terrible inconsistency between slavery and the words expressed in our Declaration of Independence. But they understood the task at hand was to create a new form of national government that could prosper under the conditions that existed. Most importantly, the fact remained that the southern states were not ready to completely let it go and, as John Rutledge from South Carolina stated, the true question was “whether the southern states shall or shall not be part of the Union.”

On May 29, 1787, Edmund Randolph from Virginia introduced fifteen resolutions to the Constitutional Convention. Known as the Virginia Resolves or the Virginia Plan, Randolph’s proposal outlined an entirely new national government, including a strong executive, a two-house legislature, and an independent judiciary. It would be the basis for discussion at the convention for the rest of the summer.

Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress lacked the authority to raise an army without the approval of the states, all treaties had to be unanimously approved, and most importantly, Congress did not have the power to levy taxes. Congress decided to hold a convention of all states in Philadelphia to review how to fix these and other issues. To add credibility to the convention, the primary organizers, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, felt it was critical for George Washington to attend. Washington reluctantly agreed to represent Virginia at the gathering, and was unanimously chosen to preside over the convention, which began on May 25, 1787 in Philadelphia.

The Tenth Amendment guarantees us a government which divides power between a distant central authority and legislatures closer to home and more in tune with local needs.

The Ninth Amendment, crafted by James Madison, reserves for the people all rights not expressly granted to the government. Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, explores how this visionary amendment addressed the concern that the new Bill of Rights might be construed as a complete list, and why it still matters today.

Our Forefathers knew that a person accused or convicted of a crime within the bounds of our judicial system would be relatively powerless without certain protections. To prevent harsh and arbitrary treatment by the government, the Founders created the Eighth Amendment.

Our founding fathers had experienced a country in which the monarchy had been both the judge and the jury. This one-sided system was terribly unfair. In response, they created the Seventh Amendment to ensure the people, not the government, decide if someone is innocent or guilty.

The Sixth Amendment helped usher in a new age of justice. With the various rights included in this amendment, the Founders guaranteed to all Americans transparency and fairness in criminal proceedings, and protection from an over-reaching government.

The Fifth Amendment contains five separate but related rights protecting those accused of a crime. Thanks to the foresight of our Founders, we are innocent until proven guilty, and the burden to prove guilt falls on the government.

It is hard to imagine any place more sacred to each of us than our home. We take for granted a natural right to privacy there, but our Founders lived in a different time.

The Third Amendment centered on a very important matter to our Founding Fathers, that of the people being forced to bear the costs of housing and feeding soldiers.

The Founders recognized that securing oneself from harm was a fundamental right and made certain they guaranteed it to all of us.

When creating the Bill of Rights, the Founders believed meetings to discuss vital issues of the day were essential to a republican form of government. The right to peaceably assemble allowed people to gather, discuss ideas, and formulate their requests, and the right to petition allows these requests to be taken directly to elected officials.

American colonies had suffered with oppressive policies under English rule. Prior to the First Amendment, the right to say and print what whatever one wanted, including making negative comments about the government, did not exist.

Nothing can be more fundamental to our pursuit of happiness than the ability to freely practice what we believe in and not be forced to violate our conscience.

After the proposed Constitution was circulated to state legislatures for approval, it came under criticism for its lack of a bill of rights. As a result, although the proposed Constitution was quickly ratified by five states, it bogged down in other assemblies.

When the Constitutional Convention met in the summer of 1787, the primary goal of the delegates was to fix the weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation. Most of the discussion focused on how our new government would operate, not on the individual rights of the people. George Mason of Virginia introduced a motion to adopt a Bill of Rights, but the suggestion was quickly dismissed.