"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty"

"WHAT the Declaration of Independence had proclaimed ~ the heady concept of a man's "unalienable" right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" ~ the Constitution forged into reality.  Independence had been won, and the government that followed had proved a rope of sand, when delegates from the floundering states met in Philadelphia's Independence Hall on May 25, 1787.
Remarkable men all ~ Jefferson called them an "assembly of demigods" ~ they came to amend weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation that bound the Nation.  But daringly they launched a new government, working behind guard doors, the cobbled streets outside earth-covered to muffle traffic noise.  On September 17 their work was done:  a document destined to "...secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity..."

"BUT first the infant Congress ~ to meet criticisms that the Constitution lacked clear-cut guarantees of freedom of speech, religion, and other vital rights ~ drafted 12 amendments.  Ten were ratified by the states and became known as the Bill of Rights."

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."  ~
Words at the doorway of a room housing the Declaration, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. U.S.A. National Archives.

~ We, the People, United States Capitol, Historical Society, 1978.