Why was the Bill of Rights added to the US Constitution?

Answer 1

In 1787, critics attacked the proposed Constitution of the United States because they felt that it did not protect the rights of the people. The Anti-Federalists felt that the delegates to the Constitutional Convention did not provide adequate safeguards to protect the citizens from government interference in their everyday lives. The Federalists, in order to get the Constitution ratified, agreed to add a Bill of Rights to the Constitution when the new congress met. The First Congress proposed 12 amendments for the Constitution. Ten were accepted by the states and became known as the Bill of Rights.
Once the delegates at the Constitutional Convention agreed on the need to compose a Constitution, problems began to arise. Northern and Southern states disagreed about the nature and presence of slavery. Larger states with more population and smaller states with smaller populations disagreed about the nature of representation. The largest issue which caused the greatest amount of inertia concerned about the role of federal government in the life of its citizens. Federalists wanted a strong national government so that a sense of law and order and basic functionality can be present in the new nation. Arising out of the terrible reality of Shays' Rebellion as well as the high level of futility featured within the first Constitution called the Articles of Confederation, the Federalists, such as John Jay and Alexander Hamilton, were fairly pronounced on the issue of a strong federal governmental body. At the same time, the antifederalists, consisting of individuals like Patrick Henry and George Mason, felt that emboldening the federal government without some measure of individual freedom to act as a check against the authority would be a repeat of the tyranny featured with King George of Britain. The Bill of Rights was the compromise that pleased both sides. Federalists were happy because the federal government would retain its power to govern the nation effectively and properly. The Antifederalists were happy because the Bill of Rights became the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, and demanded that while federal government possessed power, it did not come at the cost of individual rights.