In honor of the fifth annual Constitution Day, students gathered in the Fireplace Lounge to hear speakers and banned book readings, as well as other information on the Constitution. In addition to these festivities, here are some fascinating Constitution facts from Constitutionfacts.com.
There have been many unique proposed and rejected amendments to the Constitution. In 1878, a rejected amendment proposed that “an Executive Council of Three should replace the office of President.” In 1893, it was proposed that the U.S. should be renamed the United States of the Earth. 1916 brought the proposition the nation should have the right to vote on all acts of war and that a vote of yes should require the vote-caster to be registered to volunteer for service. An amendment to create a limit to personal wealth at one million dollars was proposed in 1933.
The Constitution has been kept at the National Archives in Washington since 1952. It is protected by a glass case framed with titanium. To preserve the document, argon gas is contained in the case along with the document, and the temperature is regulated at 67 degrees Fahrenheit at an humidity of 40 percent.
The delegates of the Constitutional Convention were a diverse group of men. The group included two presidents, George Washington and James Madison. Four of the men who signed were Irish-born. Benjamin Franklin was the oldest signer at 81 and needed help to sign. Jonathan Dayton was the youngest signer at 26. James Madison, dedicated “father of the Constitution,” arrived in Philadelphia three months before the convention began. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, on the other hand, did not attend the convention.
Thomas Jefferson also was the only delegate to attend every meeting. In fact, dedication seemed to be the name of the game for Thomas Jefferson. His notes of the proceedings, including discussions and debates, were kept in a journal which did not surface until after he died. It was purchased after his death and published in 1840.
Benjamin Franklin, the eldest signer of the delegate, performed the role of mediator at the convention. He was in pain much of the time, due to gout and a stone in his bladder. He was carried to the hall in a sedan chair carried by four prisoners from a Philadelphia jail. He died on Apr. 17 1790, and his funeral was attended by 20,000 people. It was the largest public gathering of its time, mourning the passing of a great man.
Lawyers made up 34 out of 55 delegates at the convention. The other delegates included farmers, teachers, ministers, doctors, financiers, judges and merchants. Eight of the delegates were also signers of the Declaration of Independence, and about half were veterans of the Revolutionary War. All of the delegates held a type of public office, including 39 former Congressmen and eight with experience as a governor. The politics were certainly left to the politicians in this matter!
The formation of the document itself was a historical event. The Constitution, not including the amendments, is made up of 4.543 words, none of which are democracy. This makes it the shortest constitution of any major government, yet arguably the most powerful. It has several spelling errors, perhaps the most prominent the misspelling of “Pensylvania” above the signed names. It was written out for a fee of $30, which would today be $661 dollars, by an assembly clerk. The wording of the document fell to a Committee of Style.
Philadelphia, where the convention met, was a far different place at that time, as was the United States. The median age was 16 years, and 70% of the land was used by its owners. The United States had about 4 million people, and Philadelphia, the largest city, had 40,000 of that. Philadelphia was both the largest and the most modern, boasting 7,000 street lamps, 33 churches, 10 newspapers and a university. Obviously, it takes more than numerous street lamps to cause a city to be called modern today.
Obviously today much has changed. Due to our Constitution and the government it laid out, our country has progressed to the state it is today. The annual Constitution Day gives everyone a chance to celebrate our unique country and the document that helped