The "Bill of Rights" was proposed as a follow-up to Parliament's original Habeas Corpus bill, which protected personal liberty. Now almost every colony had a bill of rights, so James Madison suggested that if the United States wanted to survive as a country, it would need one set of rules rather than thirteen and each state would have the same rules . In 1789, James Madison proposed a series of legislative articles to the First United States Congress, but the process took time; Madison proposed twelve, but only ten became known as the "Bill of Rights" on December 15, 1791. Brant provides a summary of how these amendments proposed by James Madison would be quickly added to the Constitution: The first ten amendments were added to the Constitution. Constitution of the United States in a period of uneasy calm. Among the Americans most worried about this unprecedented document, because its guarantees of freedom did not go far enough, many of them wanted to reduce legislative and executive powers. But the amendments were drafted and submitted to the nation by men who supported both the substantial powers of the new government and the protection of civil rights and liberties. If some of them were not very enthusiastic about the amendments for which they had voted, they at least recognized the strength of the popular demand and participated in its satisfaction. The primary task of Madison and his congressional associates was to place the amendment of the Constitution at the top of the agenda of the House of Representatives, ahead of major bills that would complete the structure of government. Once this goal was achieved, the amendments submitted by Madison were taken up, debated, and perfected with virtually no action to weaken them. (Brant 223)...... middle of paper ......eight. The expansion of rights that McDowell considers hasty is in reality only a reflection of the durability of the Constitution, allowing for amendments and reinterpretations. Works Cited Amar, Akhil Reed. The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1998. Print. Brant, Irving. The Bill of Rights: its origin and meaning. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1965. Print. Labunsky, Richard. James Madison and the fight for the Bill of Rights. New York and London: Oxford University Press, 2008. Print. Levy, Leonard W. Origins of the Bill of Rights. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1999. Print. McDowell, Gary L. “The Explosion and Erosion of Rights.” In Bodenhamer, David J. and Ely, James W. The Bill of Rights in Modern America. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2008. Print.