Constitution Week September 17-23: Some Interesting Facts

The members of the Sarah Riggs Humphreys-Mary Silliman Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) celebrate the signing of the Constitution of the United States 236 years ago. Below are some interesting facts you may or may not know regarding our Constitution.

The Constitution was written in the Pennsylvania State House (now known as Independence Hall) where the Declaration of Independence was signed and where George Washington received his commission as Commander of the Army.

John Adams referred to the Constitution as "the greatest single effort of national deliberation that the world has ever seen" and George Washington wrote to the Marquis de Lafayette that "It (the Constitution) appears to me, then, little short of a miracle."[i]

The Constitution was a revolutionary document at the time of its enactment. It was extraordinary that in 1787, Article I, Section 2, established the U.S. House of Representatives which provided for direct election of House members “by the People of the several States.”[ii] This differed from earlier Articles of Confederation where delegates to the Confederation Congress were selected as state legislatures directed.

Written in 1787, the Constitution was signed on September 17th, but it wasn't until 1788 that it was ratified by the necessary nine states.

George Washington established the first national “Thanksgiving Day” on November 26, 1789 as a way of "giving thanks" for the Constitution.

Some framers’ delegates in the state ratifying conventions were very troubled that the original Constitution lacked a description of individual rights. A list of rights was added in 1791, and these first ten amendments to the Constitution became known as The Bill of Rights.

The U.S. Constitution is the oldest & shortest of all the written Constitutions.

More than 11,000 amendments have been introduced in Congress. Thirty-three have gone to the states to be ratified and 27 have received the necessary approval from the states to become amendments to the Constitution.

American colonists fought, sacrificed, and died to establish and preserve the freedoms now guaranteed to us by the Constitution of the United States. We must protect these rights through diligence and our willingness to defend the Constitution.

The DAR perpetuates the memory and spirit of the men and women who won American independence. Any woman who is lineally descended from an ancestor who aided the patriot cause during the American Revolution may be eligible to join. The DAR is a nonprofit lineage society focused on historical preservation, community education and patriotism. For more information visit www.sarahriggshumphreysDAR.org

[i] https://www.constitutionfacts.com/us-constitution-amendments/fascinating-facts/

[ii] https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/articles/article-i/clauses/762