1791 · Charters, declarations and treaties

United States Bill of Rights

United States

The first ten amendments to the US Constitution, protecting freedoms such as speech, religion and fair trial.

Why it matters

It became a model for written lists of individual rights in constitutions worldwide.

Built on

1689

English Bill of Rights

England

borrowed protections against abuse of state power

1787 (in force 1789)

Constitution of the United States

United States

added to the Constitution as amendments

1776

Virginia Declaration of Rights

Virginia (United States)

drew directly on Mason's declaration and the other state bills of rights

Went on to shape

1948

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

United Nations

includes protections found in earlier bills of rights

1949 (in force 1950)

Constitution of India

India

borrowed the idea of enforceable fundamental rights

Counting texts that borrowed from the texts that borrowed from this one, 11 later texts on this timeline trace back to it.

Countries in the Legal Families Atlas

United States

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TheLawToKnow Tools’s timeline lists links of influence only where the borrowing is widely documented. Historians sometimes disagree about how much one text shaped another. It is an educational overview, not legal advice.