All four documents — from the philosophical case for a new nation to the amendments that extended the founding principles across two centuries.
The Declaration of Independence is the philosophical statement — natural rights, consent of the governed, the right of revolution. The Constitution is the machinery — three branches, enumerated powers, checks and balances, the amendment process. The Bill of Rights is the political settlement of the ratification fight — ten amendments demanded by the Anti-Federalists as the price of ratification. The Later Amendments carry the founding principles into territory the framers had been unwilling or unable to reach: abolishing slavery, establishing birthright citizenship, extending the franchise.
Natural rights, consent of the governed, the right of revolution.
Thirteen hundred words in three parts: the philosophical preamble, the Lockean second paragraph stating the self-evident truths, the twenty-seven grievances against George III, and the formal declaration. Adopted July 4, 1776.
Three branches, enumerated powers, checks and balances.
Seven articles establishing a federal government with three separate branches, enumerated powers, checks and balances, a bicameral legislature, an indirectly elected executive, and a federal judiciary. Signed September 17, 1787; ratified June 21, 1788.
Ten amendments naming what the federal government may not do.
Ten amendments in three groups: the First Amendment's five freedoms; the Fourth through Eighth's criminal procedure protections; and the Ninth and Tenth's structural principles. Ratified December 15, 1791.
Abolition, birthright citizenship, the franchise, direct taxation, Prohibition, and more.
Seventeen amendments beyond the Bill of Rights: the Civil War amendments abolishing slavery and establishing birthright citizenship and equal protection; the Progressive Era amendments extending the franchise; Prohibition and its repeal; and the later amendments extending democracy and clarifying succession.