How many original admendments where in the constitution?

Answer 1

When the Constitution of the United States was being written, the "Anti-Federalists" objected; too much power would accumulate to the Federal government, and this would be ruinous of liberty. They demanded a "Bill of Rights" that would limit the power of the government and protect the rights of the people. The Federalists argued that since the new Constitution only granted government a few specific and limited powers, that the government could never become dangerous.

Eventually, the Federalists compromised; a listing of rights retained by the people wasn't needed, they said, but wouldn't hurt anything. So the authors of the Constitution proposed a Bill of Rights listing a number of specific things that the government could never do, such as limiting free speech or free exercise of religion, banning guns, and prohibited troops from being quartered in peoples' homes. This list was the Bill of Rights, and there were 12 proposed Amendments. Only ten of these were ratified by the States, and the first ten Amendments became known as the Bill of Rights.

Curiously, one of the proposed amendments that weren't approved in 1787 was eventually ratified, and became the 27th Amendment.

Answer 2

Technically, there are no amendments in the originalConstitution. The Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments) were added shortly after the Constitution was ratified.