The Maryland Constitution is roughly 47,000 words long (including annotations), which is substantially longer than the average length of a state constitution in the United States, which is approximately 26,000 words (the United States Constitution is about 8,700 words long). The Maryland Constitution was originally written in English and then translated into Latin by the convention delegates who drafted it. The Maryland Constitution goes into considerable detail on many issues, including education, finance, government structure, and civil rights. It also includes an extensive list of crimes that are prohibited under Maryland law. The Declaration of Rights consists of about 100 words in the Maryland Constitution; it lists several rights that are deemed important by legislators and voters alike. These include the right to bear arms, the right to freedom of speech, and the right to religious liberty. Finally, the Maryland Constitution includes a bill of rights that is generally similar to its federal counterpart. This section guarantees rights such as the right to confront one's accusers, the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and the right to due process of law. The original Maryland Constitution was adopted in 1776 and has been amended 20 times since then. The most recent amendment, which was ratified in 1971, changed the method for electing senators to equal numbers of residents in each congressional district and provided for single-member districts for the House of Delegates and the Senate.