The Bill of Rights is a series of ten additions, or Amendments, to the Constitution of the United States of America. They were written mainly by James Madison at the request of other leaders who believed that the Constitution needed to contain a specific list of rights with which the government could not interfere. These ten Amendments are the very first changes that were made to the Constitution, added soon after it was ratified.

We talk a lot about freedom in our country, but we often don’t stop to think about what these freedoms mean and how they came about, or who had a hand in making America the “Land of the Free.” These freedoms were shaped and achieved through centuries of struggle.

America has a proud list of champions of freedom. Freedom is never an accomplished fact. It is always a process. Every generation must preserve its own freedoms. President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “Liberty and peace are living things. In each generation, if they are to be maintained, they must be guarded and vitalized anew.”

The Bill of Rights contains ten basic rights that belong to every American. It expands upon the rights that are contained within the Constitution. You may take these rights for granted because you live in a country which upholds them — but millions of people around the world would give anything to have these same rights.