Posted 10 years ago
aghcollect
(2304 items)
- U.S. Commemorative Postage Stamp FDC - First Day Cover Issue
- Scott catalog# 2421 / Issue date - Sept. 25, 1989 / Denomination 25¢
- Topic - Bill of Rights - 200th Anniversary
- Postmarked - Sept. 25, 1989 / Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
** Included is a gold replica stamp
The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. Proposed to assuage the fears of Anti-Federalists who had opposed Constitutional ratification, these amendments guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and reserve some powers to the states and the public. While originally the amendments applied only to the federal government, most of their provisions have since been applied to the states by way of the Fourteenth Amendment, a process known as incorporation.
The amendments were introduced by James Madison to the 1st United States Congress as a series of legislative articles. They were adopted by the House of Representatives on August 21, 1789, formally proposed by joint resolution of Congress on September 25, 1789, and came into effect as Constitutional Amendments on December 15, 1791.
