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Constitution Facts

Constitution Facts
The United States Constitution was signed on September 17th, 1787. It was meant to establish a federal United States government and to give the federal government certain powers. The thirteen original states were responsible for drafting the document. The United States Constitution is not meant to give an individual their rights but to protect the rights a person is born with, which are considered to be God-given, or natural rights. When the Constitution was signed on September 17th, 1787, only 38 of the 41 delegates that were present signed it. Three men refused because there was no Bill of Rights and slavery had not been abolished by the Constitution.
Interesting Constitution Facts:
The United States Constitution is comprised of seven articles and 27 amendments.
The first 10 amendments are known as 'The Bill of Rights'. The Bill of Rights was ratified by 1791.
The original United States Constitution is only 4,543 words long. It is the shortest written constitution and the oldest in the world.
The longest Constitution in the world is the Constitution of India with 395 articles and 94 amendments.
Approximately 11,000 amendments to the United States Constitution have been proposed since it was ratified.
In the U.S. Constitution Pennsylvania is misspelled as 'Pensylvania'.
The only two signers of the United States Constitution that went on to become United States Presidents were James Madison and George Washington.
November 26th, 1789 was the first national Thanksgiving. George Washington created this holiday as a way of giving thanks for the Constitution.
The United States Constitution is also referred to as 'The Bundle of Compromises'.
Nowhere in the United States Constitution does the words 'democracy' or 'God' appear.
The three men who refused to sign the Constitution on September 17th, 1787 were Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, George Mason of Virginia, and Edmund Randolph of Virginia.
The Founding Fathers who were not present on September 17th, 1787 included Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Patrick Henry.
Patrick Henry did not attend because he said he 'smelt a rat'.
Benjamin Franklin was the oldest delegate to sign the United States Constitution. He was 81 at the time, and he died only three years later. He was in poor health when he signed the document and required help to actually sign his name.
Jacob Shallus, A Pennsylvania General Assembly clerk 'penned' the Constitution. He was paid $30.
The United States population when the Constitution was signed was 4 million. Today the population is more than 309 million.
The only state that did not send delegates to the Constitutional Convention was Rhode Island. Rhode Island did not sign until May 29th, 1790.
The United States Constitution has been changed 17 times since 1791.
The delegates that attended the Constitutional Convention included lawyers, signers of the Declaration of Independence, Revolutionary War veterans, merchants, judges, financiers, physicians, planters, teachers and ministers.
There are Latin words included in the Constitution. This is the only other language aside from English in the Constitution.
The four pages of the United States Constitution have been on display at the National Archives Building located in Washington, DC since 1952.


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