Bill of Rights (Amendments to the United States Constitution)
proposed 25 September 1789, ratified 15 December 1791
The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. The first forbids Congress to make any law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting its free exercise.
The National Archives page gives the text of the joint resolution by which Congress, sitting at New York, proposed twelve amendments to the states, and then the ten that were ratified. Its introductory note gives the dates: proposed on 25 September 1789, ratified by three fourths of the state legislatures on 15 December 1791. The religion clauses stood third among the articles proposed and became the opening words of the First Amendment. They are addressed to Congress. See Religious Freedom in the United States.
Cited in
- 1786 to 1791, firm date