Today, Dec. 15 in 1791 the Bill of Rights were ratified by the States. It was a long, and at times, a tumultuous process that began shortly after the Articles of Confederation were ratified 10 years earlier in 1781.

James Madison and Alexander Hamilton were early proponents of strengthening the Articles and Madison would be the chief architect of drafting, advocating and implementing the voting process for the “improvements would be.

The Philadelphia Convention set out to correct weaknesses of the Articles that had been apparent even before the American Revolutionary War had been successfully concluded. The convention took place from May 14 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Opposition formed claiming that a strong federal government was a threat to individual rights and provisions to keep those threats at bay would be lacking once implemented. Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams and Richard Henry Lee were among the most prominent “Anti-Federalists” in opposition to the new powers.

A process of compromises and redrafts then took place over the next four years as the States, one by one, ratified the new amendments.