 Like Washington, Madison urged Congress to keep the revision to the Constitution "a moderate one", limited to protecting individual rights.Madison was deeply read in the history of government and used a range of sources in composing the amendments.The English Magna Carta of 1215 inspired the right to petition and to trial by jury, for example, while the English Bill of Rights of 1689 provided an early precedent for the right to keep and bear arms (although this applied only to Protestants) and prohibited cruel and unusual punishment.