Fwd: Constitution Day

Sent: Thu, Sep 17, 2020 1:31 pm

Subject: Constitution Day

Thanks to Patriot Bob Davis for this message.

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Every September 17^th, we should take a moment and reflect upon the Constitution and the men who struggled during the long hot summer of 1787 and produced what the ex-slave and black abolitionist Frederick Douglass called the "Glorious Liberty Document."

On May 25^th, 1787, the Constitutional Convention began discussions in a closed room about the size of a regular school classroom inside Philadelphia's Independence Hall. Fifty-five delegates attended, representing twelve states. Rhode Island refused to send any delegates. By unanimous vote, George Washington was selected as president of the convention.

With guards at the doors and windows to bar the press and public, the delegates began deliberations. A vote was passed to keep the debates secret so every delegate was able to freely speak, debate, and change their opinions. The dilemma before them was to strengthen the national government and yet somehow limit its power. Little did the delegates realize that it would take over four exhausting months to hammer out compromises that established a marvelous system of government flexible enough to withstand more than two centuries of change.

As historian David Barton observed "With the doors and windows shut, the cramped room where they met for up to six hours a day was stifling hot. As the convention went on, tempers flared to such an extent that one observer stated that 'there was an ever-present danger that the Convention might come to an abrupt end.'"

However, on September 12^th, the convention's five member Committee of Style, which included Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, presented the final text of the Constitution to the convention. For three days the delegates considered the document section by section until each of the exhausted delegates finally voted "aye" for the Constitution. On September 17^th, George Washington was the first to sign the document. Of the fifty-five delegates, thirty-nine signed; some had already left Philadelphia, and three refused to approve it.

For the Constitution to become law, nine of the thirteen states were required to ratify it. On September 19^th, printed copies of the proposed Constitution were distributed to the states for approval.

The Constitution is the supreme law of the United States and the source of all federal government power. The genius of the Constitution is that it empowers the federal government with the sovereign authority of the American people to achieve the powers assigned to it, but also places significant limitations on it so as not to trample on the state governments or the rights of the individual citizens.