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The struggle over the Bill of Rights was one of many contested issues in the First Congress.
Through compromise, the House and Senate demonstrated that the Constitution could be
safely amended to protect the basic rights of citizens and correct perceived defects.
A fundamental divide existed between Federalists and Anti-Federalists on the question of
amendments to the Constitution. Yet, James Madison found areas of common ground to build
support for a set of amendments. He displayed his political genius by focusing on proposals
that could win the support of a two-thirds majority in each house of Congress, and ratification
by three-quarters of the states. Madison embraced the need to change the new charter in order
to keep the majority of its provisions intact, and he skillfully used the self-correcting measures
in Article V of the Constitution to amend it.
Article V sets a high bar and defines a unique process to propose and ratify amendments.
These requirements include congressional passage by two-thirds majorities in both houses.
Yet within the House and the Senate, and between those two chambers, many of the proce-
dures, tactics, and tools remain the same as the normal legislative process for moving
bills through the chambers to enact laws. This hard work of compromise between the House
and the Senate is revealed in a compelling document, the Senate Revisions to the House Pro-
posed Amendments to the U.S. Constitution (referred to as the Senate Mark-up).
The Founders saw Congress as the forum where representatives of the people and of the states
would reach decisions through deliberation and debate on issues of national importance. With
Madison’s able guidance, the First Congress was able to reconcile differences and set in motion
the ratification of the Bill of Rights.
Go Inside the First Congress