Mary Sarah Bilder on the Origins of the Bill of Rights
Summary
Host Julie Silverbrook and historian Mary Sarah Bilder explore the origins and evolution of the Bill of Rights. They discuss how English legal traditions and revolutionary rhetoric shaped early American views on liberty, including claims by enslaved people and women. The episode traces James Madison’s shift from skepticism to championing amendments, the drafting process, and the 20th-century incorporation of these rights against state governments.
Topics discussed
Introduction and guest Mary Sarah Bilder
English roots of rights and the 1689 Bill of Rights
Colonial charters and the Declaration of Independence
Rights language used by enslaved people and women
State constitutions and approaches to listing rights
Why the Constitutional Convention omitted a Bill of Rights
Ratification debates and Anti-Federalist objections
James Madison's evolution on the Bill of Rights
Rights as protection against majority rule
Madison's proposal and the enumeration problem
The original 12 amendments and numbering history
Incorporation of the Bill of Rights via the 14th Amendment
The Bill of Rights in the American imagination
Conclusion and credits
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