“We have received it [the Constitution] as the work of the assembled wisdom of the nation. We have trusted to it as to the sheet anchor of our safety in the stormy times of conflict with a foreign or domestic foe. We have looked to it with sacred awe as the palladium of our liberties, and with all the solemnities of religion have pledged to each other our lives and fortunes here and our hopes of happiness hereafter in its defense and support. Were we mistaken, my countrymen, in attaching this importance to the Constitution...? No. We were not mistaken. The letter of this great instrument is free from this radical fault...No, we did not err!...The sages...have given us a practical and, as they hoped, a permanent Constitutional compact...The Constitution is still the object of our reverence, the bond of our Union, our defense in danger, the source of our prosperity in peace: it shall descend, as we have received it, uncorrupted by sophistical construction, to our posterity...”
— President Andrew Jackson, Proclamation of December 10, 1832
"The Constitution is still the object of our reverence, the bond of our Union, our defense in danger, the source of our prosperity in peace: it shall descend, as we have received it, uncorrupted by sophistical construction, to our posterity...” — President Andrew Jackson, Proclamation of December 10, 1832
US Constitution timeline / scholastic.com
May to September, 1787
A group of men, now known as the Founders, meet to discuss and write the U.S. Constitution.
The 4,543-word document explains how the country's new government will work. It is drafted in less than 100 days. Ben Franklin, George Washington, and James Madison are among the 55 delegates responsible for the document. More than 200 years later, the Constitution remains the highest law of the United States.
September 17, 1787 --- The U.S. Constitution is signed.
Some feared the original Constitution gave the federal government too much power. They demand that changes to the Constitution be made to protect the basic liberties of the people. The first 10 changes to the Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights.
December 15, 1791 --- The Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments, is ratified.
Among the many liberties guaranteed under the Bill of Rights are the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, and the freedom of religion.
Over time, 17 more amendments will be added to the Constitution....from 1795-1992.