The Bill of Rights

True to the promise that secured ratification, James Madison -- once an Anti-Federalist skeptic of a Bill of Rights, now a Congressman determined to keep his word -- drafted amendments in the First Congress. Ten were ratified by the states in December 1791 and became the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment alone protects five freedoms: religion, speech, press, assembly, and petitioning the government -- protections aimed directly at the kind of government control the colonists had rebelled against.

Other amendments guard against abuses of power just as specifically. The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures; the Fifth guarantees due process of law and protects against self-incrimination ("pleading the fifth"); the Sixth guarantees a speedy, public trial by an impartial jury; and the Eighth bans cruel and unusual punishment. The Ninth and Tenth Amendments round things out: the Ninth says listing some rights does not mean people only have those rights, and the Tenth reserves any power not given to the federal government for the states or the people -- a nod to Anti-Federalist fears of a government growing beyond its intended limits.