After the American Revolution, America needed a new government. We created the articles of confederation. But the articles didn't give the government really any more than a slither of power, they didn't have the power to tax and also amend the constitution. And all of the 13 states had to grant the approval of. So then in 1777 it became clear to the american government that the articles of confederation were not working. So 55 delegates went to Philadelphia as part of a constitutional convention, and after a lot and a lot of debating James Madison wrote a whole entire new constitution. But not everyone liked the new constitution. The anti-federalists were against the fact of the new constitution because it did not have a bill of rights. And a lot of Americans agreed with the anti-federalists because we had just overthrown a government that had walked all over there individual rights. In 1791 the bill of rights was included to the constitution to please the anti-federalists and the rest of the Americans.
