The correct response to your statement about the circumstances preceding the ratification of the Constitution is:
"Many supporters of the Constitution claimed that a national bill of rights was not necessary."
During the debates surrounding the ratification of the Constitution, many Federalists argued that a Bill of Rights was unnecessary because the Constitution itself limited the powers of the federal government and did not give it the authority to infringe upon individual rights. They believed that individual rights were protected at the state level, and thus a national bill of rights was redundant. However, this position was contested by Anti-Federalists, who advocated for explicit protections of individual liberties and ultimately led to the adoption of the Bill of Rights as the first ten amendments to the Constitution.
The other statements are either incorrect or misleading:
- While some states had bills of rights, it was not universally true that "hardly any" had them.
- George Washington did not explicitly oppose a Bill of Rights. In fact, he supported the ratification of the Constitution and recognized the importance of adding a bill of rights after concerns were raised.
- The original Constitution did not contain a Bill of Rights; that was added later through the first ten amendments.