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, and went into effect March 4, 1789. The Bill of Rights was proposed September 25, 1789, as 12 Amendments; ten were ratified December 15, 1789. The remaining two were not ratified but appear on the original document. These first Ten Amendments ratified are our Bill of Rights.