Angela+D

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** Why the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution**

Problems started once the delegates at the Constitutional Convention agreed to write a Constitution. Northern and Southern states argued about the issue of slavery while larger states and smaller states disagreed on the issue of representation. Some states would not ratify the Constitution of the United States because it did not protect the rights of the people and there was fear that the federal government would be too powerful under the Constitution. The two main sides of this argument were the Federalists and Anti-Federalists.The Anti-Federalists thought that the Bill of Rights was necessary to protect people from the federal government by listing the rights of citizens while the Federalists wanted a strong national government. In order to get the Constitution ratified, the Federalists added a Bill of Rights on December 15th, 1791. Because the Constitution had already been written, the bill of rights could be added only by adding amendments to the Constitution. The Bill of Rights was a compromise that pleased both sides. The Federalists were happy because the federal government would have power to govern America properly, the anti federalists were pleased because the Bill of Rights became the first 10 amendments to the Constitution and stated that while the federal government had power, there was also individual rights.  Sources

[] [] [] http://www.brtprojects.org/cyberschool/history/ch08/cliffnotes.html http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_was_the_Bill_of_Rights_added_to_the_Constitution