The United States of America is the first country in modern times to be a truly representative state, with no monarchs or kings ruling over it. This happened shortly after they gained their independence from the state of England, or, as we know it today, Great Britain. While this revolution happened hundreds of years ago, the men who negotiated and lead this new country decided that they had to leave a legacy of equality and egalitarianism that would last long after the revolutionary spirit would be gone. They enacted the first laws of the United States, the Bill of Rights or the first 10 amendments.
The first 10 amendments were written with the common man in mind. Quick in the memory of all the different delegates from each of the 13 original states was the tyrannical oppression under the rule of a unelected and irreplaceable king. These delegates might in the Constitutional Conventions in 1787. Here, the drafted the Constitution, which was a sort of mission statement and business plan of the newly formed country. In addition to making the rules on how the government would divide up federal powers, the Founding Fathers wrote an additional number of amendments to protect civil liberties for all.
The first 10 amendments protect a variety of rights that have now become so prevalent that it is nearly impossible to imagine a world where such rights were luxuries or dreams. These rights in the first 10 amendments include such things as the freedom of speech and the press. Before this, it would be possible for the government to arrest you just based on whatever you were saying, if they didn't like it. Other rights, such as freedom of religion, made the United States of America the most popular destination for many persecuted peoples all over the world, as it still does today.
In fact, the legacy of the first ten amendments are perhaps the greatest innovation created by the United States for the rest of the world. These Bill of Rights, as they are commonly called, are the foundation for civil rights in nearly every free country today. While the Bill of Rights is a term for only the first 10 amendments, there are no 27 adopted amendments that have been added leading up to present day. With these amendments in place, American citizens are guaranteed a great degree of personal freedom and equal rights that no neighbor or government official can take away from you. It is the core of your democracy and should be celebrated in schools, homes and churches.