Existing comment:
Why a Bill of Rights?
The First Congress included a preamble to the Bill of Rights to explain why the amendments were needed. Declaring that they were a response to the demand for amendments from the state ratifying conventions, the preamble states that Congress proposed them "to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers" and to extend "the ground of public confidence in the government."
Change to the preamble to the Bill of Rights, August 25, 1789, Records of the U.S. Senate |