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 Bill of Rights, 1786
• Delaware Declaration of Rights and Constitution, 1776
• Georgia Constitution, 1777
• Maryland Declaration of Rights, 1776
• Massachusetts Preamble and Declaration of Rights, 1780
• New Hampshire Bill of Rights and Constitution, 1784
• New Jersey Constitution, 1776
• New York Constitution and Statutory Bill of Rights, 1777, 1787
• North Carolina Declaration of Rights and Constitution, 1776
• Pennsylvania Declaration of Rights and Constitution, 1776
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina Constitution, 1778, 1790
• Vermont Declaration of Rights and Constitution, 1777, 1786
• Virginia Declaration of Rights, 1776