Celebrate Bill of Rights Day with cupcakes on Cupcake Day!

Happy Bill of Rights Day! Take it away, National Day Calendar!

The first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. Passed by Congress on September 25, 1789, these rights place limits on government power.

The bill was introduced by James Madison. He later became the 4th President of the United States.

Congress passed 12 of Madison’s proposed amendments. The states only ratified 10 of them. One of the two rejected by the states concerned the number of constituents for each Representative. The other limited when and how members of Congress are compensated. Neither was ratified at the time.

The previous year's video told the rest of that story.

The latter of the two rejected amendments was ratified 203 years later. The 27th Amendment restricted compensation for members of Congress.
The Bill of Rights is displayed in The Rotunda of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC.

There were 14 copies made; one for each of the 13 states to sign and one for the federal archives. Only 12 copies survive today.

The National Day Calendar's entry on its website opens with the origin of the day.

"Now, Therefore, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate December 15, 1941, as Bill of Rights Day. And I call upon the officials of the Government, and upon the people of the United States, to observe the day by displaying the flag of the United States on public buildings and by meeting together for such prayers and such ceremonies as may seem to them appropriate."

That's the history of the Bill of Rights and Bill of Rights Day. For the amendments themselves, I turn to TED-Ed's A 3-minute guide to the Bill of Rights - Belinda Stutzman.

Daily, Americans exercise their rights secured by the Constitution. The most widely discussed and debated part of the Constitution is known as the Bill of Rights. Belinda Stutzman provides a refresher course on exactly what the first ten amendments grant each and every American citizen.

Lesson by Belinda Stutzman, animation by Jacques Khouri.

"The First Amendment...may be the most revered of the amendments." I would hope so, especially since it mentions religion, making "revered" just a bit on the nose for a description. However, I think the Second Amendment has just as passionate if not more numerous adherents, although for the version I mock as the "Second Ammoment." A well-regulated militia — what's that?

Today is also NATIONAL CUPCAKE DAY | December 15th - National Day Calendar.


I couldn't find any Bill of Rights cupcakes, so here are some Constitution Day cupcakes instead.


No images of Bill of Rights cupcakes for a day that celebrates both? That's an opportunity! Any of my readers interested in seizing it?