The First Amendment and the entire Bill of Rights were not initially included in the Constitution and it was not until December 15, 1791 that the First Amendment became part of the Constitution. WE. Constitution. When the Constitution was written in 1787, it left out the individual rights of citizens, leading many states to refuse to ratify it. The United States Constitution was designed to embody the fundamental principles of government, but the lack of a Bill of Rights was the primary reason many opposed its ratification. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original EssayAs stated in Article VII, "the vote of nine States shall be sufficient for the establishment of the Constitution as the principal document uniting the States." ", but by 1788 only four states had ratified it. At the time of ratification, there was a debate between those who supported it, the federalists, and those who opposed it, the anti-federalists. Federalists argued that individuals' rights were already protected by state constitutions and that failure to enumerate these rights did not mean they were nonexistent as natural rights, which is why the rights of the former amendment were not initially included in the Constitution. On the other hand, Anti-Federalists strongly disagreed and feared that the increased strength of a national government would lead to an abuse of individual rights. These disputes ultimately resulted in the draft of a new charter for the United States Constitution, which included the First Amendment as the first section of the Bill of Rights. The lead man for this project was James Madison of Virginia, who is often considered "the Father of the Constitution" because of his significant contributions to the Constitution. Although Madison was the person responsible for drafting the First Amendment, the man who originated the idea was Thomas Jefferson. While Thomas Jefferson was absent from the Constitutional Convention as the American minister to France, he became Madison's mentor because he influenced in him the need for a Bill of Rights, and particularly the freedoms outlined in the First Amendment were his top priority. These fundamental freedoms defined in the First Amendment were shaped from the documents protecting the rights and freedoms of the Magna Carta of 1215. The First Amendment was proposed in the Bill of Rights of 1789 and was adopted by the states in 1791 The first article of the First Amendment The amendment guaranteed freedom of religion and worship. As Thomas Jefferson pointed out, the clause had established a “wall of separation between church and state” (Jefferson). Nevertheless, according to the article, the government was prohibited from establishing an official church. However, freedom of worship was guaranteed with some exceptions that were added later, including the ban on ritual slaughter and the denial of medical care for religious purposes. Freedom of speech and of the press was also guaranteed in the First Amendment; thus, certain exceptions were imposed. The article gives the press the right to criticize the government. However, certain exceptions giving the government the right to censor the press were made in times of war. For example, President Abraham Lincoln was the first to censor anti-union newspapers during the Civil War. Additionally, the use of offensive language against the flag, the government, and the Constitution was considered a crime during the.