Dictionary.net

The first in America was the Declaration of Rights which accompanied the Virginia Constitution of 1776. It was the work of Colonel George Mason, and was largely based on the English Bill of Rights of 1688. Its phraseology was extensively followed in the constitutions of other States, most of which contained bills of rights, defining the rights of the individual citizen as over against his government. The Constitution of 1787 was strongly criticised for not including such a set of statements, and their absence made its ratification difficult. Accordingly the Federalists, in the First Congress, as they had promised, carried through amendments of this nature, and these now stand as the first ten amendments to the Constitution.