THE BILL OF RIGHTS, one of our most vital documents, is the body of laws that is most important in protecting our personal rights and freedoms. Now nearly two hundred years old, it has proven in practice to be an essential pillar of American democracy.

Today many people take for granted the rights we enjoy in America. Yet, when the Constitution first became the law of the land it did not contain a bill of rights. A faction at the constitutional convention, which did not believe in granting such freedoms to all Americans, had prevented its approval. The liberty-loving men who had supported this addition to the Constitution had to continue their fight for another three years before the Bill of Rights became law.

As the years went by, other amendments were added to the ten that made up the original document. 

In telling the story of the Bill of Rights, Earl Schenck Miers shows us along the way many of the earlier documents and laws that served as philosophical and legal foundations for this great protector of freedom. He also draws unforgettable portraits of the people whose contributions to human liberty have become part of the common western heritage. 

From the dust jacket