FUN FACTS ABOUT THE U.S. CONSTITUTION
 Delegates to the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia at
Independence Hall, the site of the signing of the Declaration of
Independence. The delegates met from May 25 to September 17, 1787.
Their purpose was to revise and replace the Articles of Confederation,
which ran the U.S. government from March 1, 1781 to 1787.
 James Madison is known as the Father of the U.S. Constitution. He
attended every day of the convention. His copious notes at the
Constitutional Convention were later used to write the Federalist Papers.
John Jay and Alexander Hamilton also helped to write the Federalist
Papers.
 George Washington was the presiding officer of the Constitutional
Convention. The writers of the Constitution had George Washington in
mind when thinking of a President of the United States.
 Benjamin Franklin was the oldest delegate at the Convention (he was
81) and he was the official host of the event. The youngest delegate was
27-year-old Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey.
 55 delegates attended the Convention but only 39 signed the finished
document. North Carolina had five delegates to the Convention. They
were William Blount, William Richardson Davie, Alexander Martin,
Richard Dobbs Spaight Sr. and Hugh Williamson.
 Davie, Martin and Spaight each became Governor of North Carolina.
Davie was a founder of the University of North Carolina. Williamson, a
scientist and surgeon general of North Carolina’s troops during the
American Revolution, was a close friend of Benjamin Franklin and was a
witness to the Boston Tea Party. Blount was born near present day
Windsor in Pamlico Sound. He represented North Carolina’s interests
with the Indians in the western part of the state.
 Spaight’s wife, Mary was the first lady to dance with George Washington
at a ball in Washington’s honor at Tryon Palace in New Bern in 1791.
Their son, Richard, Jr. would also become Governor – he and his father
were the first father and son to become Governors of North Carolina.
(The second of course, were Kerr Scott and Bob Scott).
 Blount, Spaight and Williamson signed the U.S. Constitution for North
Carolina.
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 The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution are called The Bill of
Rights. These were added in 1791 when many delegates in the state
ratifying conventions were very troubled that the original Constitution
lacked a description of individual rights.
 The beginning section of the U.S. Constitution is called the Preamble.
 The Constitution states that a number of representatives a state has in the
U.S. House of Representatives is determined by population of that state.
 The Constitution states that each state has two Senators in the U.S.
Senate.
 The three branches of government mentioned in the Constitution are
executive, legislative and judicial.
 Written in 1787, the Constitution was signed on September 17th. But it
wasn't until 1788 that it was ratified by the necessary nine states. New
Hampshire was the ninth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, thus
enabling the Constitution to become the law of the land. North Carolina
was the 12th state to ratify the Constitution. We became a state on
November 21, 1789.
 Established on November 26, 1789, the first national "Thanksgiving
Day" was originally created by George Washington as a way of "giving
thanks" for the Constitution.
 Of the written national constitutions, the U.S. Constitution is the oldest
and shortest.
 More than 11,000 amendments have been introduced in Congress. Thirty
three have gone to the states to be ratified and twenty seven have
received the necessary approval from the states to actually become
amendments to the Constitution.
 The greatest Constitutional crisis in American history was the Civil War.
(1861-1865).
 You can visit the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the
Bill of Rights at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
Web Sites for you to learn more
http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/constitution.html
http://www.usconstitution.net/
http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Constitution.html
http://www.constitutioncenter.org/
http://www.constitutionday.us/
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Constitution Day
 Constitution Day is a federal holiday that recognizes the ratification of
the United States Constitution. It is observed on September 17, the
day the U.S. Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution in
1787.
 The law establishing the holiday was created in 2004 with the passage
of an amendment by Senator Robert Byrd to the Omnibus spending
bill of 2004. Before this law was enacted, the holiday was known as
“Citizenship Day.”
 When Constitution Day falls on a weekend of on another holiday,
schools and other institutions unofficially observe the holiday on an
adjacent weekday. This was the case in 2005, when Constitution Day
was generally observed on Friday, September 16.
 General Colin Powell will lead the Country in a coordinated,
nationwide recitation of the Preamble to the United States
Constitution. The actual ceremony will be held on Monday,
September 18, 2006, at 2:00 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time).
 The U.S. Constitution has 4,440 words. It is the oldest and shortest
written constitution of any government in the world.
 Of the typographical errors in the Constitution, the misspelling of the
word “Pensylvania” about 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 was “penned” by Jacob Shallu, a Pennsylvania
General Assembly clerk, for a fee of $30 ($325.29 today). It was
stored in various cities until 1952, when it was placed in the National
Archives Building in Washington, D.C. During the daytime, pages
one and four of the document are displayed in a bullet-proof case.
The case contains helium and water vapor to preserve the paper’s
Fun Facts about the U.S. Constitution
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quality. At night, the pages are lowered into a vault, behind five-ton
doors that are designed to withstand a nuclear explosion. The entire
Constitution is displayed only one day a year— September 17, the
anniversary of the day the framers signed the document.
 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.
 James Madison, “the father of the Constitution,” was the first to arrive
in Philadelphia for the Constitutional Convention. He arrived in
February, three months before the convention began, bearing the
blueprint for the new Constitution.
 Of the forty-two delegates who attended most of the meetings, thirtynine actually signed the Constitution. Edmund Randolph and George
Mason of Virginia and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts refused to
sign due in part to the lack of a bill of rights.
 When it came time for the states to ratify the Constitution, the lack of
any bill of rights was the primary sticking point.
 The Great Compromise saved the Constitutional Convention, and,
probably, the Union. Authored by Connecticut delegate Roger
Sherman, it called for proportional representation in the House, and
one representative per state in the Senate (this was later changed to
two.) The compromise passed 5-to-4, with one state, Massachusetts,
“divided.”
 Patrick Henry was elected as a delegate to the Constitutional
Convention, but declined, because he “smelt a rat.”
 Because of his poor health, Benjamin Franklin needed help to sign the
Constitution. As he did so, tears streamed down his face.
 Governor Morris was largely responsible for the “wording” of the
Constitution, although there was a Committee of Style formed in
September 1787.
 The oldest person to sign the Constitution was Benjamin Franklin
(81). The youngest was Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey (26).
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 When the Constitution was signed, the United States’ population was
4 million. It is now more than 300 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.
 There was initially a question as to how to address the President. The
Senate proposed that he be addressed as “His Highness the President
of the United States of America and Protector of their Liberties.” Both
the House of Representatives and the Senate compromised on the use
of “President of the United States.”
 James Wilson originally proposed the President be chosen by popular
vote, but the delegates agreed (after 60 ballots) on a system known as
the Electoral College. Although there have been 500 proposed
amendments to change it, this “indirect” system of electing the
president is still intact.
 George Washington and James Madison were the only presidents who
signed the Constitution.
 In November of 1788 the Congress of the Confederation adjourned
and left the United States without a central government until April
1789. That is when the first Congress under the new Constitution
convened with its first quorum.
 James Madison was the only delegate to attend every meeting. He
took detailed notes of the various discussions and debates that took
place during the convention. The journal that he kept during the
Constitutional Convention was kept secret until after he died. It (along
with other papers) was purchased by the government in 1837 at a
price of $30,000 (that would be $503,675.99 today). The journal was
published in 1840.
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 Although Benjamin Franklin’s mind remained active, his body was
deteriorating. He was in constant pain because of gout and having a
stone in his bladder, and he could barely walk. He would enter the
convention hall in a sedan chair carried by four prisoners from the
Walnut Street jail in Philadelphia.
 As Benjamin Franklin left the Pennsylvania State House after the final
meeting of the Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787, he
was approached by the wife of the mayor of Philadelphia. She was
curious as to what the new government would be. Franklin replied, “A
republic, madam. If you can keep it.”
 On March 24, 1788, a popular election was held in Rhode Island to
determine the ratification status of the new Constitution. The vote was
237 in favor and 2,945 opposed!
 The members of the first Congress of the United States included 54
who were delegates to the Constitutional Convention or delegates to
the various state-ratifying conventions. The number also included 7
delegates who opposed ratification.
 Benjamin Franklin died on April 17, 1790, at the age of 84. The
20,000 mourners at his funeral on April 21, 1790, constituted the
largest public gathering up to that time.
 Vermont ratified the Constitution on January 10, 1791, even though it
had not yet become a state.
 The word “democracy” does not appear once in the Constitution.
 There was a proposal at the Constitutional Convention to limit the
standing army for the country to 5,000 men. George Washington
sarcastically agreed with this proposal as long as a stipulation was
added that no invading army could number more than 3,000 troops!
 John Adams referred to the Constitution as “the greatest single effort
of national deliberation that the world has ever seen” and George
Washington wrote to the Marquis de Lafayette that “It (the
Constitution) appears to me, then, little short of a miracle.”
 The Pennsylvania State House (where the Constitutional Convention
took place) was where George Washington was appointed the
commander of the Continental Army in 1775 and where the
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Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. It was also where
the Articles of Confederation were adopted as our first constitution in
1781.
 During an event to celebrate the Constitution’s Sesquicentennial in
1937, Harry F. Wilhelm recited the entire document through the
newly added 21st Amendment from memory. He then obtained a job
in the Sesquicentennial mailroom!
 The N.C. signers were William Blount, Richard D. Spaight and Hugh
Williamson.
 William Blount (1749-1800)—Although he signed the Constitution,
that action was taken just to prove that he was “present.” He
supported its ratification because it would help Western expansion,
and he used various elected positions to gain land for his own
economic advancement. Blount served as state senator (1788-1790),
governor of the territory south of the Ohio River (1790), president of
the Tennessee constitutional convention (1796), and as a United States
Senator from Tennessee (1796-1797). Blount was involved in a
conspiracy for inciting the Creek and Cherokee Indians to collaborate
with the British Fleet in attacking Spanish Florida and Louisiana.
Based upon these charges Blount was impeached by the House of
Representatives and expelled by the Senate in 1797. He returned to
Tennessee and served in the state senate.
 Richard D. Spaight (1758-1802)—He was elected to three terms as
governor of North Carolina beginning in 1792, and was a major force
in moving the capital from New Bern to Raleigh. He was elected a
member of the United States House of Representatives (1798-1801)
and was killed in a duel by his successor in Congress (John Stanly) in
1802.
 Hugh Williamson (1735-1819)—He was elected to two terms in the
United States House of Representatives (1789-1793), and then retired
from public life. He spent many of his remaining years at the New
York Hospital, dedicating much of his time to the study of medicine.
One of his chief interests was writing on the climate of North
America.
Constitutionfacts.com
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Ben Franklin
 Although Franklin had a passion for public service, he never sought
public office. His proficiency in civic matters impressed
contemporaries, and he ended up holding many positions in his
lifetime. Franklin was U.S. postmaster general and served as
America's ambassador to England and France.
 Ben Franklin is most famous for his experiments with electricity, but
his scientific study had a much broader scope. He was among the first
to study weather and explore the movements of the Gulf Stream. His
inventions include the lightening rod, bifocals, Franklin stove, and the
concept of daylight saving time.
 Franklin wanted the American colonies to remain a part of England,
but only if the rights of the colonists were recognized. When he was
convinced that England would not comply, he became one of its most
formidable opponents, convincing the French to fight with America in
the Revolutionary War.
 Franklin was the oldest delegate in attendance at the Constitutional
Convention in 1787. His influence helped establish the two-house
Congress that America has today. This system satisfied both large and
small states, and was instrumental in gaining unanimous support for
the new Constitution.
 As a publisher and writer, Franklin was a true innovator. His 'Poor
Richard's Almanac' was immensely popular in colonial America and
is best known for its proverbs.
 Franklin wanted to use the turkey to symbolize America, because he
thought the eagle had “bad moral character” while the turkey, “though
a little vain and silly,” was “a bird of courage.”
 Franklin signed the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the
1792 Treaty of Paris and the 1778 Alliance with France. He is the
only person to have signed all four.
 Franklin used pseudonyms including Silence Dogwood, Richard
Saunders and Benevolus. He used the pseudonym Richard Saunders
for “Poor Richard’s Almanac.”
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 After the Boston Tea Party, Franklin offered his own personal fortune
to pay for the ruined tea if the Britain would appeal the unfair tax.
 Franklin loved music, and he not only invented an instrument, the
glass harmonica, but also played the harp, viola da gamba (similar to a
cello) and the harpsichord. He could also play the whistle and violin,
to a lesser degree, the guitar. He composed the lyrics for drinking
songs, admired the “simple Beauty” of Scottish folk-music, and
composed a quartet in F major for open strings.
 Franklin belongs to 14 different Halls of Fame, including the CIA
Hall of Fame, the International Swimming Hall of Fame, the
Pennsylvania Swimming Hall of Fame, Health Care Hall of Fame,
Boston Latin School Hall of Fame, Electrostatics Hall of Fame, the
American Mensa Hall of Fame, the World Chess Hall of Fame,
United States Swim Schools Association Hall of Fame, Cooperative
Hall of Fame, Self-Publishing Hall of Fame, the Hall of Fame for
Great Americans, the Insurance Hall of Fame and the Direct
Marketing Association Hall of Fame.
 Franklin published the first non-English language newspaper in
colonial America. In 1732, he started the German language
Philadelphische Zeitung, which soon failed. Franklin taught himself
five languages – French, Italian, Spanish, Latin, and German – which
he spoke with varying degrees of fluency. For example, he told Italian
physicist Giambatista Beccaria, in 1766, that, “I am pleased to hear
that you read English, although you do not write it. I am in the same
case with Italian.”
 Franklin nearly became a swimming coach. He was an accomplished
and enthusiastic swimmer, having first taught himself by paddling
around as a young boy, and then perfected his strokes by reading an
illustrated treatise called “The Art of swimming ... with advice for
bathing.” In his late teens, while working in London, Franklin showed
off his swimming skills to friends: “I stript and leapt into the River,
and swam from near Chelsea to Blackfryars, performing on the way
many Feats of Activity both upon and under Water...” His “Feats”
were widely discussed, and a few months later, Sir William Wyndham
approached Franklin to ask him to teach his sons to swim. Franklin
recalled in his Autobiography that, “From this Incident I thought it
likely, that if I were to remain in England and open a Swimming
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School, I might get a good Deal of Money. And it struck me so
strongly, that had the Overture been sooner made me, probably I
should not so soon.”
 Franklin’s famous quotes:
''A penny saved is a penny earned.''
''Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.''
''By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.''
''Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.''
''Genius without education is like silver in the mine.''
''He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.''
''Honesty is the best policy.''
''In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.''
''Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.''
''Take time for all things: Great haste makes great waste.''
''God helps them that help themselves.''
Benfranklin300.com
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