Reflections on Constitution Day

Today is Constitution Day in the United States.  Constitution Day commemorates the signing of the U.S. Constitution by 39 men on September 17, 1787.

The law establishing Constitution Day was created in 2004 when the late Senator Robert C. Byrd added am amendment to the Omnibus Spending Bill.  Before the law was enacted through Senator Byrd’s amendment, Constitution Day was traditionally known as Citizenship Day.  In addition to creating “Constitution Day,” Senator Byrd’s amendment mandated that all publicly funded education instutions provide educational lessons on the history of the American Constitution.

Upon reflecting on this wonderful document, here are some fascinating facts about our Constitution:

• The Constitution has 4,400 words and is the oldest and shortest written Constitution of any major government in the world.
• The Constitution was “penned” by a Pennsylvania General Assembly Clerk for $30.
• When it was time for the 13 states to ratify the Constitution, a major sticking point for ratification was the lack of any bill of rights.
• The oldest person to sign the Constitution was Ben Franklin at age 81.
• The youngest person to sign the constitution was Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey at age 26.
• George Washington and James Madison were the only presidents to sign the Constitution
• John Adams referred to the Constitution as “the greatest effort of national deliberation that the world has ever seen.”
• George Washington referred to the Constitution in a letter, writing, “It appears to me, then, little short of a miracle.”
• As evidence of its flexibility and brilliance, the Constitution has only be changed seventeen times since 1791.

Today, all of us at the Manchin Injury Law Group urge you to take time to reflect the brilliance that our Founding Fathers made when they drafted the United States Constitution.  In honor of Constitution Day, here is a video of Senator Byrd reading the preamble to the Constituion