The U.S. Constitution is extremely brief as government documents go. But its apparent simplicity is deceptive. It represent hundreds of years of human intellectual evolution. To construct this key document, the framers drew upon a wide array of authorities that included Classical sages, medieval English nobles, French philosophes, and their own colonial and state governments. At the very apex of these traditions sits the Bill of Rights. Today the most treasured and well-known part of the document, this set of amendments was initially considered unnecessary. Some of the framers balked at adding it to a document they already considered complete. Yet this belated portion of the Constitution addresses a profound question that has troubled political thinkers since time immemorial: What unique combination of governmental factors will promote a nation's welfare yet allow for the widest possible scope of human freedom?

So it seems that the story of the creation of the Bill of Rights is long and complex, with many twists and turns. To grasp this story, we must become familiar with the many persons, organizations, ideas, and events that have contributed to its history. We must also take a close look at the struggle to ratify the Constitution, in which the Bill of Rights would play such a pivotal role. This section presents entries from John R. Vile's The Constitutional Convention of 1787: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of America's Founding, published by ABC-CLIO. Among these entries, you will find a wide variety of background reference materials. Biographies, key events, and entries on major ideas offer a well-rounded picture of the people and times that produced—very nearly failed to produce—the Bill of Rights.