While 8 of 13 states had bill of rights, there was no debate about matter at 1787 constitutional convention in Philly. Issue didn't even come up until five days before end of convention when George Mason (author of Virginia Declaration of Rights) suggested BoR would be good idea. But only Mason and Elbridge Gerry of Mass. voted in favor of establishing committee to draft one.
After convention adjourned, James Madison suggested that reason for absence of BoR was fatigue, delegates wanted to go home. Some 'framers' (such as Delaware's John Dickinson) appealed to idea that such rights were inalienable and written guarantee unnecessary, others (such as Connecticut's Roger Sherman) didn't think written BoR would be any good because government could ignore it, and several (such as South Carolina's Charles Pinckney) asserted that BoR would make hypocrites of slave owners. Alexander Hamilton (Federalist #84, if memory serves) wrote that BoR would be dangerous because some might construe written list as comprehensive, plus, if you start stating things that Congress can't do people might become confused and think it can do everything else (advocate of stronger central power than constitution established expressing concern that BoR might increase federal power rings a bit hollow). Michael Hoover