Celebrate the 225th anniversary of the Bill of Rights and the amendments to the Constitution, the guarantees of our liberties that shape our Nation, with our Amending America water bottle. Stay hydrated during your long debates about our rights, or just while you are out and about pursuing your freedom.

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.

The original Bill of Rights is officially the 1789 Joint Resolution of Congress proposing the amendments. It is on display in the Rotunda at the National Archives Museum.