Who drafted the amendment that became the "Bill of Rights"?

Answer 1

The basis answer "James Madison" is correct, though that may be misleading, since none of the ideas were his own invention.

So, to clarify, and to correct a few errors in earlier answers:

1) James Madison was NOT Speaker of the House in 1789 (that office was held by Frederick Muehlenberg of Pennsylavania); in fact, he NEVER held that office.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_of_the_U.S._House_of_Representatives#List_of_Speakers

For that matter, since Congress in its early days had none of the modern complexity of orgnization, Madison held NO office in the House. He was, however, a leading voice, esp. for the emerging "Republicans" in the late 1790s. He and Fisher Ames (of Massachusetts) were the two most influential actors in the first congress. And Madison was frequently the "floor manager" (one who shepherds a bill through Congress) for a number of legistlative efforts, including the first set of amendments to the Constitution.
http://www.thegreenpapers.com/Hx/CongressionalLeadership.html

2) Madison actually introduced NINETEEN amendments, of which 17 (with edits) later passed the House. But after further action by the Senate that number was reduced to 12 (of which # 3-12 became known as the "Bill of Rights", #2 was finally ratified as the 27th amendment in 1992, #1 [concerning Congressional apportionment] failed to win ratification).

3) Originally, the Madison amendments were not formally organized as a separate "Bill of Rights". Madison wanted them to be incorporated at appropriate places in the text, but was later talked into having the whole placed, as a block, at the end, chiefly so that it would be clear that there purpose was precisely to BE a "Bill of Rights".

4) This last point underlines that Madison was NOT creating something new. There was a signficant history to codifying statements of rights, going back to the Magna Carta in 1215 and the English "Bill of Rights" of 1689.

Also, though Madison drafted them (as you correctly stated it), the contents were based on the numerous proposals from the states and from the formulations of the "Virginia Declaration of Rights" written by George Mason in 1776 (which also influenced the text of the Declaration of Independence).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bill_of_Rights#Drafting

Actually, you will find the substance, and some of the wording, of most of the the first eight in the English Bill or Rights. Read it here:
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/england.htm

And of course, as always happens with legislation, Congress edited Madison's original proposals, so the final product is not purely his work in that respect either.

Answer 2

James Madison. He was Speaker of the House; and because he was the chief architect of the original Constitution, he took on the task of sifting through the state's request for amendments, and drafting the first twelve amendments to the Constitution (only ten of which were originally ratified). These ten became known as the Bill of Rights.

FACTOID: One of Madison's unratified amendments dealing with Congressional pay raises wasn't originally ratified. It floated around until discovered by a college student in Texas. He made a campaign to ressurrect it, and actually got it ratified in 1992 (27th Amendment). Thus making Madison the author of the first amendments, and the last.

Answer 3

The first author of the Bill of Rights was James Madison. James Madison was influenced by the ideas of English philosopher John Locke, George Mason's 1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights, the 1689 English Bill of Rights, works of the Age of Enlightenment pertaining to natural rights, and earlier English political documents such as the Magna Carta (1215). .
On June 8, 1789, Madison submitted his proposal to Congress.

Answer 4

It was initially drafted by James Madison with influence from others like George Mason.

Answer 5

James Madison.

Answer 6

Hey Puma Girl,

As Washington was inaugurated as America's first president and the infant nation set about to establish a strong government, memories of civil rights violations during the colonial period were still vivid. However, in the draft constitution submitted to the states for ratification relatively few basic rights were included.

A number of prominent Americans were alarmed at the omission of individual liberties in the proposed constitution. George Mason, author of the Virginia Bill of Rights, refused to sign the document, as did Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts.


Thomas Jefferson, U.S. Minister to France at the time, wrote James Madison that he was concerned about "the omission of a bill of rights....providing clearly....for freedom of religion, freedom of the press, protection against standing armies, and restriction against monopolies."

Aware of the lack of these provisions, George Washington urged Congress in his first inaugural address to propose amendments that offered "a reverence for the characteristic rights of freemen and a regard for public harmony."

Motivated by these leading Americans, Congress responded by submitting Amendments to the Constitution providing for essential civil liberties. They were officially proposed on September 25, 1789. Of the original twelve, Articles 3-12 were ratified. Accordingly, in 1791 these articles became the first ten amendments to the Constitution.....known collectively as The Bill of Rights.

Here are the original twelve amendments as they appear in The Laws of The United States of America, printed by Richard Folwell, Philadelphia, in 1796.

Answer 7

if I'm not mistaken the Aristocracy of that day drafted what has since been ammended to death ....

Answer 8

they were added to the const by founding fathers....
they were approved along with const.