Bill of Rights
December 15, 1791
The Bill of Rights is ratified, providing the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. They provided guarantees of personal freedoms and rights, clear limitations on the government’s power in judicial and other proceedings, and explicit declarations that all powers not specifically delegated to Congress by the Constitution are reserved for the states or the people. Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Georgia did not officially ratify it until 1939.