Guest Author - Linda Sue Grimes

To Those in the Military
This Constitution Day celebration is dedicated to you, those at home and abroad. We love, we honor, and are so proud of you. We constantly pray for those of you who are in harms way.
—from Constitution Day, Inc.

Constitution Day, originally designated as September 17, has been celebrated since 1997. The initiators of Constitution Day intended that the day be used, espeically in schools, to acquaint students with the most important document of our country’s founding.

Sir William Gladstone, the British Prime Minister said, “The Constitution is the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man,” because the Constitution is a nearly perfect governmental document. While most other nations—90% of the U.N. member nations—of the world have experienced violent revolutions in changing governments even in the 20th century, the republic of the United States has sustained it tranfers of power peacefully for over 200 years because of the frequent, numerous elections; the accountability of our representatives and the frequency with which they may change obviates a need for violent revolutions.

While Greece is credited with being the first democray and Rome with being the first republic, our republican democracy is unique because our government is divided into three equal branches with the ultimate power residing with the people.

Our Constitution is the supreme law of the land. Its philosophy actually evolves from the four British documents: the Magna Carta of 1215, the Petition of Rights of 1628, the Writ of Habeas Corpus of 1679, and the English Bill of Right 1689. While the British actually forumlated all of these freedom documents, their American Colony put them to the best use, by writing a Constitution and then following it.

Prior to the framing and ratifying of our Consitution, the American Colonies has formed a government called the Continental Congress under a document called the Articles of Confederation. It soon became obvious that the Articles of Confederation are insufficent to run the country; the central government lacked power to enforce laws.

Several meetings were called by the states to revise the Articles; one at Annapolis in 1786 and a second at Philadelphia in 1787. The first meeting was unsuccessful because not enough delegates showed up. The second meeting was successful, but instead of merely revising the Articles, they decided to scrap them and start from scratch. George Washing was the president of the 1787 Constitutional Convention and James Madison was the secretary.

In all there were fifty-five state delegates to the Constitutional Convention, out of which only thirty-nine signed the document. Three delegates refused to sign, because they wanted a bill of rights added.

Gouveneur Morris of Pennsylvania is credited with writing the Preamble and final draft of the Constitution, which was signed on September 17, 1787.

Reference: Ninth Annual Constituion Day Observance

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Books by Linda Sue Grimes:
Jiggery-Jee's Eden Valley Stories
Singing in the Silence: Poems of Faith
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