Fact 1: The Constitution is certainly the most influential legal document in existence.
Fact 2: Since its creation some two hundred years ago, over one hundred countries around the world have used it as a model for their own. And it is a living document.
|
The Constitution is the guide which I never will abandon George Washington |
|
Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties. Abraham Lincoln |
|
Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. Benjamin Franklin |
|
|
I prefer a man who will burn the flag and then wrap himself in the Constitution to a man who will burn the Constitution and then wrap himself in the flag. Craig Washington Most faults are not in our Constitution, but in ourselves. Ramsey Clark |
|
|
We are under a Constitution, but the Constitution is what the judges say it is, and the judiciary is the safeguard of our liberty and of our property under the Constitution. Charles Evans Hughes “The Constitution, on this hypothesis, is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the Judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form they please.” Thomas Jefferson |
|
Constitution Day celebrates the anniversary of the unanimous vote by 12 state delegations to approve the Constitution and submit it to Congress on Sept. 17, 1787
Photo by Dean Sullivan.
What Is Constitution Day?
On September 17, 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention met for the last time to sign the document they had created. We encourage all Americans to observe this important day in our nation's history by attending local events in your area. Celebrate Constitution Day through activities, learning, parades and demonstrations of our Love for the United State of America and the Blessings of Freedom Our Founding Fathers secured for us.
September 17 is recognized in the United States as Constitution Day. The purpose of Constitution Day is to commemorate the signing of the supreme law of the land and to honor and celebrate the privileges and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship for both native-born and naturalized citizens. But were African-Americans Part of “We the People” at the Time of the Founding?
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas made news by conceding that blacks were not part of “We the People” at the time of the Founding in the 1780s. He states:
“It is true, Justice Clarence Thomas acknowledged the other night, that the “we the people” extolled in the Constitution 225 years ago did not include people who looked like him.”But the Declaration of Independence did, and that was something that a black kid growing up in Savannah, Ga., was told early on.”
Realistically, African-Americans were not excluded from the “people” who established the Constitution. The “We the People” in the preamble of the Constitution refers to those people who “ordained and established this Constitution for the United States of America.” And, despite the existence of brutal slavery and racial discrimination, some blacks were included in that group.
Cited: Wikipedia: "Preamble of the Constitution" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preamble_to_the_United_States_Constitution
Detail of the Constitution showing the signatures.
The state delegates approved the draft of the Constitution on September 15, 1787. The signing was set for the very next Monday. Jacob Shallus, the assistant clerk for the Pennsylvania General Assembly, agreed to engross (copy in a fine, clear hand) the document. Over the course of about 40 hours, he created an accurate transcription of the draft. He was paid $30 for his efforts. On September 17, the document was ready for signing.
Thirty-nine of the 42 men present signed the Constitution. George Washington was first, followed by each state delegation descending from north to south. George Mason, Elbridge Gerry, and Edmund Randolph refused to sign because the Constitution lacked a bill of rights. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams did not sign because they were on diplomatic missions in Europe during the convention.
