The Bill of Rights (1939)

It's 1774 in Williamsburg, the Virginia colony. Governor Dunmore, representing the British government, views certain colonists like James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, as being turncoats, with their allegiance first and foremost to the colony and not to Britain. As such, Dunmore moves to restrict the rights of colonists in order to maintain British control. The restricting of those rights, which Madison, Jefferson and some of the other colonists feel are inalienable as being basic human rights, leads to them drafting what is called the Fairfax Resolve to lay out those rights which they feel no one can take away from them. Dunmore, in return, moves further to quash the actions of those colonists all in the name of quashing a slave rebellion. What the general populace will eventually learn will lead to general support for the Resolve, which will become the basis for the US Bill of Rights adopted a decade and a half later.

The Bill of Rights is a drama movie featuring Ted Osborne and directed by Crane Wilbur.

The Bill of Rights is currently streaming on TCM.