This is my article from today's newspaper (2016/09/14). So much of it I had never heard before. It's not heavy reading, but some fascinating stuff.
During this week Americans are celebrating the birthday of the U.S. Constitution. Rarely does a day go by without someone in a news story referring to the Constitution, or without a discussion on whether a certain law is constitutional or unconstitutional. But how much do we really know about this marvelous document, and the stories and facts behind it.
The U.S. Constitution is the oldest and shortest of all the written national constitutions. It contains 4,400 words.
The U.S. Constitution was prepared in secret, behind locked doors that were guarded by sentries. It took more than 100 days.
Two of America’s “founding fathers” didn’t attend the Constitutional Convention nor did they sign the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson was in France during the Convention, where he served as the U.S. minister. John Adams was serving as the U.S. minister to Great Britain during the Constitutional Convention and did not attend either.
Washington and Madison were the only presidents to sign the Constitution.
Jonathon Dayton of New Jersey was the youngest delegate to the Constitutional Convention at 26 years old. Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania was the oldest at age 81. Because of his poor health, Benjamin Franklin needed help to sign the Constitution. As he did so, tears streamed down his face.
Franklin is the only person to have signed these four documents: the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Treaty of Alliance, Amity, and Commerce with France (1778), the Treaty of Peace between England, France, and the United States (1782), and the Constitution (1787).
The U.S. Constitution contains multiple spellings errors. However, the most glaring error is the spelling of “Pensylvania.” A delegate from that state left out one of the n’s when he signed. (It’s even misspelled on the Liberty Bell).
The word “democracy” does not appear at all in the Constitution. The United States of America is not a true democracy; it’s a republic. In a pure democracy, the people make decisions directly. In a republic, the people make decisions indirectly, via representatives. The men at the
Convention believed pure democracy to be a dangerous form of government.
The first 10 Amendments to the Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights but were not a part of the original document.
The amendments were introduced by James Madison to the 1st United States Congress as a series of legislative articles. They were adopted by the House of Representatives on August 21, 1789, formally proposed by joint resolution of Congress on September 25, 1789, and came into effect as Constitutional Amendments on December 15, 1791.
While 12 Amendments were proposed by Congress, only the last 10 were originally ratified by the states.
The first of the failed amendments proposed by Madison would have established how members of the House of Representatives would be apportioned to the states, and was intended to keep Representatives close to their constituents.
Although it was not ratified, Congressional apportionment is grounded in the Constitution in Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3, and the total number of members of the House of Representatives is set by federal statute.
The second of Madison’s 12 amendments forbade Congress from giving itself a pay raise; Congress could vote for a raise but it would only apply from the beginning of the next Congress.
The most astonishing fact I discovered while researching for this column has to to with Madison’s proposed amendment regarding this pay raise for Congress. The required number of states refused to ratify it in 1789, but in 1982 Gregory Watson, a university student doing research for a government class, ran across a description of this amendment and realized that it remained "alive" because it had included no language in it about a window of time in which it had to gain the needed number of state ratifications. Watson lobbied enough states to get it ratified. The needed number was reached and Madison’s amendment, first proposed in 1789, became the 27th and most recent amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1992.
One of my sources wrote that the Constitution was “penned” by Jacob Shallus, a Pennsylvania General Assembly clerk, for $30, which would amount to $802 today. I thought the word penned was interesting and found out that it comes from the Latin word for feather or quill, which means of course it was actually written out by hand with a feather quill. We have all seen copies of the original document and were amazed at the beautiful flowery script.
The Constitution does not set forth requirements for the right to vote. As a result, at the outset of the Union, only male property-owners could vote. African Americans were not considered citizens, and women were excluded from the electoral process. Native Americans were not given the right to vote until 1924.
There was initially a question as to how to address the President. The Senate proposed that he be addressed as His Highness the President of the United States of America and Protector of their Liberties. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate compromised on the use of President of the United States. The first time the formal term “The United States of America” was used was in the Declaration of Independence.
James Wilson originally proposed the President be chosen by popular vote, but the delegates agreed (after 60 ballots) on a system known as the Electoral College. Although there have been 500 proposed amendments to change it, this indirect system of electing the president is still intact.
Since 1952, the Constitution has been on display in the National Archives Building in Washington, DC. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, it was moved to Fort Knox for safekeeping.
Currently, all four pages are displayed behind protective glass framed with titanium. To preserve the parchment’s quality, the cases contain argon gas and are kept at 67 degrees Fahrenheit with a relative humidity of 40 percent.
I hope you have enjoyed reading these facts as much as I enjoyed learning about them from my research.
During this week Americans are celebrating the birthday of the U.S. Constitution. Rarely does a day go by without someone in a news story referring to the Constitution, or without a discussion on whether a certain law is constitutional or unconstitutional. But how much do we really know about this marvelous document, and the stories and facts behind it.
The U.S. Constitution is the oldest and shortest of all the written national constitutions. It contains 4,400 words.
The U.S. Constitution was prepared in secret, behind locked doors that were guarded by sentries. It took more than 100 days.
Two of America’s “founding fathers” didn’t attend the Constitutional Convention nor did they sign the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson was in France during the Convention, where he served as the U.S. minister. John Adams was serving as the U.S. minister to Great Britain during the Constitutional Convention and did not attend either.
Washington and Madison were the only presidents to sign the Constitution.
Jonathon Dayton of New Jersey was the youngest delegate to the Constitutional Convention at 26 years old. Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania was the oldest at age 81. Because of his poor health, Benjamin Franklin needed help to sign the Constitution. As he did so, tears streamed down his face.
Franklin is the only person to have signed these four documents: the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Treaty of Alliance, Amity, and Commerce with France (1778), the Treaty of Peace between England, France, and the United States (1782), and the Constitution (1787).
The U.S. Constitution contains multiple spellings errors. However, the most glaring error is the spelling of “Pensylvania.” A delegate from that state left out one of the n’s when he signed. (It’s even misspelled on the Liberty Bell).
The word “democracy” does not appear at all in the Constitution. The United States of America is not a true democracy; it’s a republic. In a pure democracy, the people make decisions directly. In a republic, the people make decisions indirectly, via representatives. The men at the
Convention believed pure democracy to be a dangerous form of government.
The first 10 Amendments to the Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights but were not a part of the original document.
The amendments were introduced by James Madison to the 1st United States Congress as a series of legislative articles. They were adopted by the House of Representatives on August 21, 1789, formally proposed by joint resolution of Congress on September 25, 1789, and came into effect as Constitutional Amendments on December 15, 1791.
While 12 Amendments were proposed by Congress, only the last 10 were originally ratified by the states.
The first of the failed amendments proposed by Madison would have established how members of the House of Representatives would be apportioned to the states, and was intended to keep Representatives close to their constituents.
Although it was not ratified, Congressional apportionment is grounded in the Constitution in Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3, and the total number of members of the House of Representatives is set by federal statute.
The second of Madison’s 12 amendments forbade Congress from giving itself a pay raise; Congress could vote for a raise but it would only apply from the beginning of the next Congress.
The most astonishing fact I discovered while researching for this column has to to with Madison’s proposed amendment regarding this pay raise for Congress. The required number of states refused to ratify it in 1789, but in 1982 Gregory Watson, a university student doing research for a government class, ran across a description of this amendment and realized that it remained "alive" because it had included no language in it about a window of time in which it had to gain the needed number of state ratifications. Watson lobbied enough states to get it ratified. The needed number was reached and Madison’s amendment, first proposed in 1789, became the 27th and most recent amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1992.
One of my sources wrote that the Constitution was “penned” by Jacob Shallus, a Pennsylvania General Assembly clerk, for $30, which would amount to $802 today. I thought the word penned was interesting and found out that it comes from the Latin word for feather or quill, which means of course it was actually written out by hand with a feather quill. We have all seen copies of the original document and were amazed at the beautiful flowery script.
The Constitution does not set forth requirements for the right to vote. As a result, at the outset of the Union, only male property-owners could vote. African Americans were not considered citizens, and women were excluded from the electoral process. Native Americans were not given the right to vote until 1924.
There was initially a question as to how to address the President. The Senate proposed that he be addressed as His Highness the President of the United States of America and Protector of their Liberties. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate compromised on the use of President of the United States. The first time the formal term “The United States of America” was used was in the Declaration of Independence.
James Wilson originally proposed the President be chosen by popular vote, but the delegates agreed (after 60 ballots) on a system known as the Electoral College. Although there have been 500 proposed amendments to change it, this indirect system of electing the president is still intact.
Since 1952, the Constitution has been on display in the National Archives Building in Washington, DC. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, it was moved to Fort Knox for safekeeping.
Currently, all four pages are displayed behind protective glass framed with titanium. To preserve the parchment’s quality, the cases contain argon gas and are kept at 67 degrees Fahrenheit with a relative humidity of 40 percent.
I hope you have enjoyed reading these facts as much as I enjoyed learning about them from my research.
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