Happy 229th Birthday, U.S. Constitution (minus one day)
Last edited Fri Sep 16, 2016, 02:59 PM - Edit history (2)
It's Constitution Day.
It was on September 17, 1787, that the U.S. Constitution was signed by 39 founding fathers at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The day is celebrated on September 17, unless that day is on a weekend. This year, Constitution Day is commemorated on September 16. In accordance with an amendment by Senator Robert Byrd to the Omnibus spending bill of 2004, all publicly funded educational institutions and all federal agencies are mandated to provide educational programming on the history of the American Constitution on that day. Few people would claim that the Constitution is perfect. Three founding fathers present at the signing (George Mason and Edmund Randolph of Virginia and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts) refused to sign what they considered a flawed document. George Mason refused to sign on the grounds that the Constitution did not contain a Bill of Rights. That omission was remedied quickly.
Regulatory agencies are in existence as a result of the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946, which governs the way in which administrative agencies of the federal government of the United States may propose and establish regulations. Thank Article I, Section 8, Clause 3, the “Commerce Clause,” for that.
Feel free to say what you want, peaceably assemble, and petition the Government for a redress of grievances (some restrictions may apply).
Links:
Constitutional Convention
Constitution Day
Resources for Constitution Day
The Founding Fathers
Administrative Procedure Act
Commerce Clause
They keep working on it. One of these days, they'll get it right.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Constitution of the United States, page 1
The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. The Constitution, originally comprising seven articles, delineates the national frame of government. Its first three articles entrench the doctrine of the separation of powers, whereby the federal government is divided into three branches: the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Congress; the executive, consisting of the President; and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal courts. Articles Four, Five and Six entrench concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments and of the states in relationship to the federal government. Article Seven establishes the procedure subsequently used by the thirteen States to ratify it.
Since the Constitution came into force in 1789, it has been amended twenty-seven times to meet the changing needs of a nation now profoundly different from the eighteenth-century world in which its creators lived. In general, the first ten amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, offer specific protections of individual liberty and justice and place restrictions on the powers of government. The majority of the seventeen later amendments expand individual civil rights protections. Others address issues related to federal authority or modify government processes and procedures. Amendments to the United States Constitution, unlike ones made to many constitutions world-wide, are appended to the end of the document. All five pages of the original U.S. Constitution are written on parchment.
The Constitution's first three words—We the People—affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens. For over two centuries the Constitution has remained in force because its framers wisely separated and balanced governmental powers to safeguard the interests of majority rule and minority rights, of liberty and equality, and of the federal and state governments. The first constitution of its kind, adopted by the people's representatives for an expansive nation, it is interpreted, supplemented, and implemented by a large body of constitutional law, and has influenced the constitutions of other nations.
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1787 Drafting
Main article: Constitutional Convention (United States)
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The final document, engrossed by Jacob Shallus, was taken up on Monday, September 17, at the Convention's final session. Several of the delegates were disappointed in the result, a makeshift series of unfortunate compromises. Some delegates left before the ceremony, and three others refused to sign. Of the thirty-nine signers, Benjamin Franklin summed up, addressing the Convention: "There are several parts of this Constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them." He would accept the Constitution, "because I expect no better and because I am not sure that it is not the best".
The advocates of the Constitution were anxious to obtain unanimous support of all twelve states represented in the Convention. Their accepted formula for the closing endorsement was "Done in Convention, by the unanimous consent of the States present." At the end of the convention, the proposal was agreed to by eleven state delegations and the lone remaining delegate from New York, Alexander Hamilton.
