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That day was 220 years ago today. The below is from About.com.
On September 17, 1787, the 55 delegates to the
Constitutional Convention held their final meeting. Only one item of
business occupied the agenda that day, to sign the Constitution of the
United States of America. Since May 14, 1787 the 55 delegates had
gathered almost daily in the State House (Independence Hall) in
Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation. By the middle of
June, it became apparent to the delegates that to merely amend the
Articles of Confederation would not be sufficient. Instead, they would
write an entirely new document designed to clearly define and separate
the powers of the central government, the powers of the states, the
rights of the people and how the representatives of the people should
be elected.
After being signed in September of 1787, Congress sent printed copies
of the Constitution to the state legislatures for ratification. In the
months that followed, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay
would write the Federalist Papers in support, while Patrick
Henry, Elbridge Gerry, and George Mason would organize the opposition
to the new Constitution. By June 21, 1788, nine states had approved the
Constitution, finally forming "a more perfect Union."
No matter how much we argue about the details of its meaning today, in
the opinion of many, the Constitution signed in Philadelphia on
September 17, 1787 represents the greatest expression of statesmanship
and compromise ever written. In just four hand-written pages, the
Constitution gives us no less than the owners' manual to the greatest
form of government the world has ever known.
We have no tribal council, nor can we vote anybody off the island. But,
we do live in the land of the free, and as long as the Constitution
stands, we always will.
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