The original Charters of Freedom are on display in The Rotunda at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. The Declaration of Independence was adopted July 4, 1776. The United States Constitution was adopted September 17, 1787, ratified in 1788, and went into effect March 4, 1789. The Bill of Rights was proposed September 25, 1789, as 12 amendments; ten were ratified December 15, 1791. The remaining two were not ratified but appear on the original document. These first Ten Amendments ratified are our Bill of Rights.