What is the Bill of Rights?

The Bill of Rights refers specifically to the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. These amendments were ratified in 1791 and outline fundamental rights and freedoms that are guaranteed to individuals, such as freedom of speech, religion, the right to bear arms, and protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. The intent of the Bill of Rights was to ensure that certain civil liberties would be preserved and protected from government infringement, acting as a safeguard for individual rights.

The other options do not accurately represent the Bill of Rights. A list of citizen duties, the Constitution itself, and a set of federal laws refer to different concepts within the framework of U.S. law and governance, but none encompass the specific meaning of the Bill of Rights as the essential amendments that protect individual liberties.