The original 1789 Joint Resolution of Congress proposing the amendments to the Constitution is on display in the Rotunda at the National Archives Museum. Here in the blue hues that were popular in the time of the First Congress, the Bill of Rights mousepad is a useful desk accessory for history-loving patriots.

On September 25, 1789, the First Congress of the United States proposed 12 amendments to the Constitution. Ten of the 12 were ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures on December 15, 1791. The ratified Articles constitute the first 10 amendments of the Constitution or the U.S. Bill of Rights. Over the years, the Constitution was amended 16 more times. In 1992, 203 years after it was proposed, Article 2 of the original Bill of Rights was ratified as the 27th Amendment to the Constitution. There have been numerous suggestions for new amendments since 1992, but none have made it out of Congress.