Replies to post #207003 on CMKM Diamonds Inc. (fka CMKX)

[Investorman]

No one signed the Bill of Rights. They are all amendments (including the first 10) to the Constitution and therefore were all passed by Congress as a body and ratified by at least three-fourths of the state legislatures. The record of those members who voted for and against are available. Each amendment is ratified seperately.

During the debates on the adoption of the Constitution, its opponents repeatedly charged that the Constitution as drafted would open the way to tyranny by the central government. Fresh in their minds was the memory of the British violation of civil rights before and during the Revolution. They demanded a "bill of rights" that would spell out the immunities of individual citizens. Several state conventions in their formal ratification of the Constitution asked for such amendments; others ratified the Constitution with the understanding that the amendments would be offered.

On September 25, 1789, the First Congress of the United States therefore proposed to the state legislatures 12 amendments to the Constitution that met arguments most frequently advanced against it. The first two proposed amendments, which concerned the number of constituents for each Representative and the compensation of Congressmen, were not ratified. Articles 3 to 12, however, ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures, constitute the first 10 amendments of the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights.

[janice shell]

Thanks Panther. Incredible that we cant find the signatures.

Maybe there weren't any signatures. After all, the Bill of Rights isn't really a separate document, though that's often how we think of it. It's an amendment to, and part of, the Constitution, which as we know IS signed.