Here are some fun facts:
The U.S. Constitution has 4,543 words. It is the oldest and shortest written Constitution of any major government in the world. It contains 7,591 words including the 27 amendments.
Constitution Day is celebrated on September 17, the anniversary of the day the framers signed the document.
The oldest person to sign the Constitution was Benjamin Franklin (81). The youngest was Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey (26).
A proclamation by President George Washington and a congressional resolution established the first national Thanksgiving Day on November 26, 1789. The reason for the holiday was to give “thanks” for the new Constitution.
The delegates to the Constitutional Convention were involved in debates from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. six days a week with only a 10 day break during the duration of the convention.
From 1804 to 1865 there were no amendments added to the Constitution until the end of the Civil War when the Thirteenth amendment was added that abolished slavery. This was the longest period in American history in which there were no changes to our Constitution.
As evidence of its continued flexibility, the Constitution has only been changed seventeen times since 1791.
James Madison of Virginia was responsible for proposing the resolution to create the various Cabinet positions within the Executive Branch of our government and twelve amendments to the Constitution of which ten became the Bill of Rights. Have you ever wondered how so many of our congressmen and senators are lawyers? Of the fifty-five delegates who attended the convention 34 were lawyers.
Good Article.
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