Documenting Our Rights
“The authors of the Declaration of Independence outlined a bold vision for America: a nation in which all people would be free and equal. More than two hundred years later, we have yet to achieve it.” -- ACLU Racial Justice Program
Efforts to realize the rights set forth in the US Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Missouri Constitution continue to this day. Without the dedication and hard work of everyone, they remain merely words printed on paper.
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Jefferson to Clay
At the 1788 Constitutional Convention, Rev. Clay refused to vote for the US Constitution without a Bill of Rights.
Here, Jefferson writes to Clay after the Bill of Rights amendments were proposed, but not yet ratified: "… the ground of liberty is to be gained by inches, that we must be contented to secure what we can get from time to time, and eternally press forward for what is yet to get."
The Constitutions 1791
Originally twelve amendments were proposed to the U.S. Constitution, but only ten were ratified in 1791. Renumbered 1-10, they are commonly known as the Bill of Rights.
Constitution de l'etat du Missouri
This copy of the Missouri Constitution was printed in St. Louis as the territory petitioned for statehood. As a former French colony, many residents were bilingual.
The Constitutions 1824
Missouri’s first state constitution of 1820 included a Declaration of Rights. However, these rights excluded enslaved people of African descent, an estimated 15% of the new state’s population.