The Bill of Rights originally only restricted the federal government, and went through a long initial phase of "judicial dormancy"; in the words of historian Gordon S. Wood, "After ratification, most Americans promptly forgot about the first ten amendments to the Constitution."
权利法案起初只对联邦政府有效，因此获得批准后经历了一段漫长的“司法休眠期”，用历史学家戈登·S·伍德（英语：Gordon S. Wood）的话来说：“批准之后，大部分美国人很快忘记了有关宪法前十条修正案的事。