Origins of the American Bill of Rights

English Precedents

• Magna Carta, 15 June 1215
• English Bill of Rights, 1689

Colonial Precedents

• Massachusetts Body of Liberties, 1641
• Pennsylvania Charter of Liberties and Frame of Government, 5 May 1682

American Revolutionary War

• Resolutions of the Stamp Act Congress, 19 October 1765
• The Olive Branch Petition, 5 July 1775
• A Declaration by the Representatives of the United Colonies of North America, now met in General Congress at Philadelphia, setting forth the causes and necessity of their taking up arms, 6 July 1775
• The Declaration of Independence, 4 July 1776

Rights Under the Articles of Confederation

• Introduction
• Religious Freedom in Virginia, 1784–1786
• The Incorporation of State-Guaranteed Rights unto the Confederation Government, 1783–1786
• An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio, 13 July 1787
• Richard Henry Lee’s Proposed Amendments in the Confederation Congress, 27 September 1787

Early State Constitutions

• Introduction
• Antecedents of the U.S. Bill of Rights Found in the Revolutionary Era Declarations of Rights and State Constitutions
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Georgia
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New York
• North Carolina
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• Vermont
• Virginia