<P> Bills of rights are in their origin, stipulations between kings and their subjects, abridgments of prerogative in favor of privilege, reservations of rights not surrendered to the prince . Such was the Magna Charta, obtained by the Barons, swords in hand, from King John . </P> <P> In December 1787 and January 1788, five states--Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut--ratified the Constitution with relative ease, though the bitter minority report of the Pennsylvania opposition was widely circulated . In contrast to its predecessors, the Massachusetts convention was angry and contentious, at one point erupting into a fistfight between Federalist delegate Francis Dana and Anti-Federalist Elbridge Gerry when the latter was not allowed to speak . The impasse was resolved only when revolutionary heroes and leading Anti-Federalists Samuel Adams and John Hancock agreed to ratification on the condition that the convention also propose amendments . The convention's proposed amendments included a requirement for grand jury indictment in capital cases, which would form part of the Fifth Amendment, and an amendment reserving powers to the states not expressly given to the federal government, which would later form the basis for the Tenth Amendment . </P> <P> Following Massachusetts' lead, the Federalist minorities in both Virginia and New York were able to obtain ratification in convention by linking ratification to recommended amendments . A committee of the Virginia convention headed by law professor George Wythe forwarded forty recommended amendments to Congress, twenty of which enumerated individual rights and another twenty of which enumerated states' rights . The latter amendments included limitations on federal powers to levy taxes and regulate trade . </P> <P> A minority of the Constitution's critics, such as Maryland's Luther Martin, continued to oppose ratification . However, Martin's allies, such as New York's John Lansing, Jr., dropped moves to obstruct the Convention's process . They began to take exception to the Constitution "as it was," seeking amendments . Several conventions saw supporters for "amendments before" shift to a position of "amendments after" for the sake of staying in the Union . The New York Anti-Federalist "circular letter" was sent to each state legislature proposing a second constitutional convention for "amendments before", but it failed in the state legislatures . Ultimately, only North Carolina and Rhode Island waited for amendments from Congress before ratifying . </P>

When did civil rights become part of the constitution