Enshrined “We the People” Affirming Government’s Existence TO SERVE the Citizenry

The Constitution of the United States 1787- 2019

Former Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger at Constitution’s Bicentennial (1987)

“I

n the last quarter of the eighteenth century, there was no country in the world that governed with separated and divided powers providing checks and balances on the exercise of authority by those who governed. A first step toward such a result was taken  with the Declaration of Independence in 1776, which was followed by the Constitution drafted in Philadelphia in 1787. And in 1791 the Bill of Rights was added. Each had antecedents back to the Magna Carta and beyond.

“The work of the fifty-five men at Philadelphia in 1787 marked the beginning of the end of the concept of the divine right of kings. In place of the absolutism of monarchy, the freedoms flowing from this document created a land of opportunities. Ever since then discouraged and oppressed people form every part of the world have made a beaten path to ours shores. This is the meaning of our Constitution.

“It is important that all who love freedom have an appreciation and understanding of our national heritage—a history and civics lesson for all of us. This lesson cannot be learned without first reading and grasping, the meaning of this document—the first of its kind in all human history.”

A

ffirmed Government as Servant of the People

“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 (spelling in original), 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

Jurisdiction 
All States and Territories

Created
September 17, 1787

Presented

 September 28, 1787

Ratified
June 21, 1788

Effective date
March 4, 1789
 

S

igners of the Constitution of the United States

In convention by the unanimous consent of the states present the seventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven and of the independence of the United States of America the twelfth. Signers alphabetically by state

Connecticut	William S. Johnson (1727-1819)
Roger Sherman (1723-1793)
Delaware	Richard Bassett (1745-1815)
Gunning Bedford, Jr. (1747-1812)	Jacob Broom (1752-1810)
John Dickinson (1732-1808)	George Read (1733-1798
	Georgia
Abraham Baldwin (1754-1807)	William Few (1748-1828)
	Maryland
Daniel Carroll (1730-1796)	Daniel Jenifer of St. Thomas (1723-1790)
James McHenry (1753-1816)
Massachusetts	Nathaniel Gorham (1738-1796)
Rufus King (1755-1827)
New Hampshire	Nicholas Gilman (1755-1814)
John Langdon (1741-1819)
New Jersey	David Brearly (1745-1790)
Jonathan Dayton (1760-1824)	William Livingston (1723-1790)
William Paterson (Patterson) (1745-1806)
New York	Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804)
	North Carolina
William Blount (1749-1800)	Richard D. Spaight (1758-1802)
Hugh Williamson (1735-1819)
Pennsylvania	George Clymer (1739-1813)
Thomas Fitzsimons (1741-1811)	Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Jared Ingersoll (1749-1822)	Thomas Mifflin (1744-1800)
Gouverneur Morris (1752-1816)	Robert Morris (1734-1806)
James Wilson (1742-1798)
South Carolina	Pierce Butler (1744-1822)
Charles Pinckney (1757-1824)	Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746-1825)
John Rutledge (1739-1800)
Virginia	John Blair (1732-1800)
James Madison (1751-1836)	George Washington (1732-1799)
James Wilson (1742-1798)

 

O

n September 17, 1787, the Constitutional Convention came to a close in the Assembly Room of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There were seventy individuals chosen to attend the meetings with the initial purpose of amending the Articles of Confederation. Rhode Island opted to not send any delegates.

Fifty-five men attended most of the meetings, there were never more than forty-six present at any one time, and ultimately only thirty-nine delegates actually signed the Constitution. (William Jackson, who was the secretary of the convention, but not a delegate, also signed the Constitution.  John Delaware was absent but had another delegate sign for him.)

While offering incredible contributions, George Mason of Virginia, Edmund Randolph of Virginia, and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts refused to sign the final document because of basic philosophical differences. Mainly, they were fearful of an all-powerful government and wanted a bill of rights added to protect the rights of the people.

Two Hundred and Thirty Two Years  
The Constitution of the United States
1787 - 2019

Sources

Warren E. Burger, Chief Justice of the United States 1969-1986

Chairman of the Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution

In Preface to Constitution of the United States published for the Bicentennial of its adoption in 1787, Bicentennial Edition 1987 –. The Library of Congress in association with The Arion Press, San Francisco

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_United_States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preamble_to_the_United_States_Constitution

Constitution Facts .com “The U.S Constitution & Amendments: About the Signers” shttps://www.constitutionfacts.com/content/constitution/files/Constitution_AboutTheSigners.pdf

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