Life. Liberty. Freedom

On Sept. 17, 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention met for the last time to sign the document they had created.
Constitution Day is celebrated each year on Sept. 17 to commemorate that very important day in the United States' history 229 years ago.

Interesting facts about the U.S. Constitution:

Only 12 of the 13 original states actually took part in writing the US Constitution. Rhode Island did not attend the Constitutional Convention though they eventually were the last state to ratify the document in 1790.
Of the spelling errors in the Constitution, "Pensylvania" above the signers? names is probably the most glaring.
Thomas Jefferson did not sign the Constitution. He was in France during the Convention, where he served as the U.S. minister. John Adams was serving as the U.S. minister to Great Britain during the Constitutional Convention and did not attend either.
The Constitution does not set forth requirements for the right to vote. As a result, at the outset of the Union, only male property-owners could vote. African Americans were not considered citizens, and women were excluded from the electoral process. Native Americans were not given the right to vote until 1924.
Because of his poor health, Benjamin Franklin needed help to sign the Constitution. As he did so, tears streamed down his face.
The oldest person to sign the Constitution was Benjamin Franklin (81). The youngest was Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey (26).
When the Constitution was signed, the United States' population was four million. It is now more than 322 million. Philadelphia was the nation's largest city, with 40,000 inhabitants.
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 first time the formal term "The United States of America" was used was in the Declaration of Independence.
It took one hundred days to actually "frame" the Constitution.
George Washington and James Madison were the only presidents who signed the Constitution.
The word "democracy" does not appear once in the Constitution.
The Constitution contains 4,543 words, including the signatures and has four sheets, 28-3/4 inches by 23-5/8 inches each. It contains 7,591 words including the 27 amendments.
The Constitution was ratified by specially elected conventions beginning in December 1787. The order in which the 13 states accepted the new constitution was Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island.
Four of the signers of the Constitution were born in Ireland.
As evidence of its continued flexibility, the Constitution has only been changed 17 times since 1791!

The Founding Fathers

These are the names on the Constitution:
•Baldwin, Abraham, Georgia
•Bassett, Richard, Delaware
•Bedford, Gunning, Jr., Delaware
•Blair, John, Virginia
•Blount, William, North Carolina
•Brearley, David, New Jersey
•Broom, Jacob, Delaware
•Butler, Pierce, South Carolina
•Carroll, Daniel, Maryland
•Clymer, George, Pennsylvania
•Dayton, Jonathan, New Jersey
•Dickinson, John, Delaware
•Few, William, Georgia
•Fitzsimons, Thomas, Pennsylvania
•Franklin, Benjamin, Pennsylvania
•Gilman, Nicholas, New Hampshire
•Gorham, Nathaniel, Massachusetts
•Hamilton, Alexander, New York
•Ingersoll, Jared, Pennsylvania
•Jefferson, Thomas, Virginia
•Jenifer, Daniel St Thomas, Maryland
•Johnson, William Samuel, Connecticut
•King, Rufus, Massachusetts
•Langdon, John, New Hampshire
•Livingston, William, New Jersey
•Madison, James, Virginia
•McHenry, James, Maryland
•Mifflin, Thomas, Pennsylvania
•Morris, Gouverneur, Pennsylvania
•Morris, Robert, Pennsylvania
•Paterson, William, New Jersey
•Pinckney, C. Cotesworth, South Carolina
•Pinckney, Charles, South Carolina
•Read, George, Delaware
•Rutledge, John, South Carolina
•Sherman, Roger, Connecticut
•Spaight, Richard Dobbs, North Carolina
•Washington, George, Virginia
•Williamson, Hugh, North Carolina
•Wilson, James, Pennsylvania

Source: www.constitutionfacts.com, www.constitutionday.com