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To celebrate Constitution Day, stop by the Otto F. Linn Library and pick up a free copy of the Constitution in Spanish or English.

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Constitution Day
(September 17)

I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without [H]is notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without [H]is aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings that “except the Lord build the House they labor in vain that build it.” I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without [H]is concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall be become a reproach and a bye word down to future age. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing Governments by Human Wisdom, and leave it to chance, war, and conquest.

— Benjamin Franklin, Constitutional Convention, June 28, 1787

Prior to ratifying the Constitution, America was governed by the Articles of Confederation. On May 25, 1787, a conversation was started in Philadelphia to replace the Articles of Confederation with a new Constitution of the United States. The Constitutional delegates were strongly divided on several issues, and on June 28, 1787, Benjamin Franklin made his famous motion to request that clergy pray every morning for the assistance of Heaven and its blessings on their deliberations.

Following his motion for daily prayer, Ben Franklin wrote, “The convention, except three or four persons, thought prayer unnecessary.” Although the motion was not approved, the Constitutional delegates did not “become a reproach and a bye word down to the future age” as Ben Franklin predicted. Instead, 39 of the 55 delegates signed the Constitution of the United States on September 17, 1787. Today, that document which established three branches of government (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial) along with a system of checks and balances, is the oldest written national framework for government in the world.

In Historical Context: The Survival of the US Constitution, Steven Mintz wrote:

At the end of the twentieth century, there were about 159 other national constitutions in the world, and 101 had been adopted since 1970. While the United States has been governed by a single framework of government for over two centuries, France, in contrast, has had 10 separate and distinct constitutional orders (including five republics, two empires, a monarchy, and two dictatorships). The country of El Salvador has had 36 constitutions since 1824.

 

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Additional Information:

• Constitution of the United States of America (Library of Congress)
• The Constitution of the United States
• The Bill of Rights: Amendments 1-10
• The Constitution: Amendments 11-27
• Religion and the Founding of the American Republic
• The Finger of God on the Constitutional Convention
• Franklin’s Appeal for Prayer at the Constitutional Convention
• Franklin’s Closing Speech at the Constitutional Convention