what did many people want added to the constitution before they would approve it
History of the United States Constitution The drafted Constitution was submitted to the Confederation Congress. It in turn forwarded the Constitution as drafted to the states for ratification by the Constitutional method proposed. The Federalist Papers provided background and justification for the Constitution. Some states agreed to ratify the Constitution only if the amendments that were to become the Bill of Rights would be taken up immediately by the new government, and they were duly proposed in the first session of the First Congress.
Limited government The original authors of the United States Constitution saw fit to limit the powers of government, as set forth in the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson. Here, Jefferson outlined three basic statements widely adhered to by the people of the American colonies. Supporters of the Declaration believed that these statements were not sufficiently adhered to by or through the English monarchy. In order to prevent this travesty the framers of the constitution made limited government a principle tenet of the constitution. Among the assertions were that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, and that governments are instituted in order to preserve these rights. It was the colonial experience of many Americans that the English government was not adhering to these premises, and it was for this reason that the colonies saw fit to establish their own government in which all three of these assertions would be respected.[3][4]