Aside from the British Bill of rights, which delineated in formal language the demands presented to William and Mary, joint rulers of England, in the late 17th century, the biggest influence on limiting the powers of the government was likely the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which stated outright the principles of consent of the governed and inherent “inalienable” rights. Based on these principles, the delegates from the states of the union drew up the first amendments of the constitution.

On this day, December 15, in 1791, the Bill of Rights, the first ten out of the a proposed twelve amendments, were ratified by Virginia, the last state needed to attain the two-thirds majority needed.

The Founding Fathers who debated the ratification of the constitution all agreed the the federal government’s powers must be limited, but disagreed with the details of how to bring that about. Many signed the document with the understanding the limiting clauses will come in a separate Bill of Rights. Thomas Jefferson wrote “half a loaf is better than no loaf,” meaning that it was preferable to pass the documents separately than not pass them at all. And Benjamin Franklin expressed his doubt “whether any other Convention we can obtain, may be able to make a better Constitution.”