Happy Constitution Day! Here are two articles on the topic:
Celebrating Constitution Day
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today we celebrate Constitution Day – the day the Founding Fathers signed the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787.
Constitution Day, once known as Citizenship Day, commemorates the U.S. Constitution. On this day in 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention met for the last time to sign the document they had created. The original states, except Rhode Island, collectively appointed 70 individuals to the Constitutional Convention. In all, 55 delegates attended the Constitutional Convention sessions, but only 39 actually signed or were able to sign the Constitution. The delegates ranged in age from Jonathan Dayton, 26, to Benjamin Franklin, 81, who had to be carried to sessions in a sedan chair.
Read more: Liberty Counsel
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The Political Community of the U.S. Constitution
Our Constitution does not guarantee unanimity. That would risk tyranny. But it affords an opportunity for justice and the general good to prevail.There will be no fireworks to celebrate the 232nd anniversary of Constitution Day, nor public readings of the document. Most will pass the day without even a moment’s reflection on the event that redefined the political community of the United States. September 17, 1787 was the day that the newly drafted Constitution was signed by those whose work had begun on May 25, 1787.
The new Constitution was ratified 12 years after the 1776 Declaration of Independence from the British. From the time of the first settlers on the shores of what was to become a new nation, the United States has had three identifiable political communities: colonial America under the auspices of the British, a confederation of states, and a nation governed by the current Constitution. Understanding the political community that the U. S. Constitution forms tells us much about America and its current divisions.
Read more: American Greatness
Image credit: Photo by Roseanne Freundt ©, used with permission.
