"The Bill of Rights would never have been necessary . . . if so much power had not been granted to the central government by the constitution of 1787 in the first place."—Ryan McMaken

History tells us that a condition for ratifying the Constitution was a section detailing how the proposed document would protect people from government aggression. Even New York—with a Bill of Rights existing as a statute and not part of its constitution—found their absence unsettling in a federal constitution. Along with Virginia and Massachusetts, New York's delegates wanted an explicit statement of rights the newly-expanded government could never trample.

Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, wherein Congress would have the power "To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States" established individual rights as contingent rather than inalienable—contingent on the decisions of government. Those who supported the Constitution, especially Federalist writers Hamilton and Madison, essentially said that money is needed to run any government effectively and asking for it was unreliable. Revenue was to be extorted from those who had it, made legitimate by the concurrence of state delegates, and made tolerable by "the prudence and firmness of the people," as Hamilton wrote in Federalist 31.

The government was picking a fight with those under its jurisdiction. How would these people fight back?

Since taking property from another person without their permission is theft, the victims might start by engaging in verbal or written protests. If government had the legal power to restrict or forbid such protests, the people could not express their "prudence or firmness" without penalty. 

From this caveat and the desire on the part of nationalists to get the Constitution ratified, James Madison proposed a Bill of Rights consisting of 17, then 12, then finally 10 amendments, the first one stating, in part:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press. . ."

The Bill of Rights was ratified on December 15, 1791.

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