Malcolm Rivera
The United States Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 39 delegates to the Constitutional Convention, representing 12 states, endorsed the Constitution. The names of 39 delegates are inscribed upon the proposed constitution, with George Washington, as president of the Convention, signing first. However, no woman signed the US Constitution. While women were included in the Constitution and were accorded its rights, they were not called to the duties of citizenship.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of signing | 17 September 1787 |
| Location | Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Number of delegates | 74 |
| Number of delegates present | 55 |
| Number of delegates who signed | 39 |
| Number of states represented | 12 |
| Number of states that didn't send delegates | 1 (Rhode Island) |
| Youngest signer | Jonathan Dayton, 26 |
| Oldest signer | Benjamin Franklin, 81 |
| Woman's name on the document | Mary Katherine Goddard |
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What You'll Learn
- The US Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- delegates from 12 states endorsed the Constitution
- The names of the delegates are grouped by state, from north to south
- The US Constitution lays out the framework for the nation's federal government and its three branches
- The Constitution included women and accorded them rights
The US Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The US Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This event marked the culmination of a four-month-long Constitutional Convention, where 39 delegates from 12 states endorsed the Constitution. Notably, Rhode Island declined to send any representatives.
The signing of the Constitution was more than just a symbolic act; it served as an authentication of the document's validity. The closing endorsement included signatures, a declaration of the delegates' successful completion of their work, and a statement of their subscription to the final document. The document also contained a formulaic dating of its adoption and a note from the convention's secretary, William Jackson, verifying four amendments made by hand.
Among the signers were individuals who had actively participated in the American Revolution, with seven having signed the Declaration of Independence and 30 having served in the military. Benjamin Franklin, at 81, was the oldest signer, while Jonathan Dayton, at 26, was the youngest. The delegates' signatures were grouped by state, progressing from north to south, with George Washington, as president of the Convention, signing first.
While no women signed the US Constitution, it's worth noting that women were implicitly included in the document as rights bearers. The use of the word "persons" instead of "men" in the Constitution signalled that women were considered part of the governed citizenry, entitled to the rights and protections it afforded. This interpretation is supported by scholars like Linda K. Kerber, who argue that while women were not called to the duties of citizenship, they were certainly granted its rights.
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39 delegates from 12 states endorsed the Constitution
The United States Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 39 delegates from 12 states endorsed the Constitution, which was created during a four-month-long convention. The signing of the Constitution served an authentication function, providing essential documentation of the Constitution's validity.
The 39 delegates who signed the Constitution were chosen from a total of 74 individuals selected to attend the Constitutional Convention. Of those 74, 55 delegates participated in the convention, with 13 dropping out for personal reasons or in protest of decisions made during the deliberations. Three individuals who remained engaged in the work until its completion refused to sign the final draft.
The 39 delegates who signed the Constitution represented a cross-section of 18th-century American leadership, with experience in local, colonial, and state governments. The youngest signer was 26-year-old Jonathan Dayton, and the oldest was 81-year-old Benjamin Franklin, who was so infirm that he had to be carried to sessions in a sedan chair.
The names of the 39 delegates who signed the Constitution are inscribed upon the document, with the exception of Convention President George Washington, whose name is listed first, followed by the other delegates, grouped by states from north to south. The signing of the Constitution by these delegates served as a unanimous endorsement of the document by the states present.
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The names of the delegates are grouped by state, from north to south
The United States Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 39 delegates to the Constitutional Convention, representing 12 states (all but Rhode Island, which declined to send delegates), endorsed the Constitution. The names of the 39 delegates are inscribed upon the proposed constitution. The convention's secretary, William Jackson, added a note to verify four amendments made by hand to the final document, and signed the note to authenticate its validity.
Connecticut
- Oliver Ellsworth
- William Samuel Johnson
Delaware
- Richard Bassett
- Gunning Bedford Jr.
- Jacob Broom
- John Dickinson
- George Read
Georgia
- Abraham Baldwin
- William Few
Maryland
- Daniel Carroll
- Jonathan Dayton
- Luther Martin
Massachusetts
- Elbridge Gerry
- Nathaniel Gorham
- Rufus King
New Hampshire
- Nicholas Gilman
- John Langdon
New Jersey
- David Brearley
- Jonathan Dayton
- William Livingston
- William Paterson
- Benjamin Franklin
North Carolina
- William Blount
- Richard Dobbs Spaight
- Hugh Williamson
Pennsylvania
- Benjamin Franklin
- Thomas Mifflin
- Robert Morris
- George Clymer
- Thomas Fitzsimons
- Jared Ingersoll
- James Wilson
- Gouverneur Morris
South Carolina
- Pierce Butler
- Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
- Charles Pinckney
- John Rutledge
Virginia
- John Blair
- James Madison
- George Mason
- James McClurg
- Edmund Randolph
- George Washington
The youngest signer was Jonathan Dayton, aged 26, and the oldest was Benjamin Franklin, aged 81. Franklin was also the first signer to die, in April 1790, while James Madison was the last, dying in June 1836.
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The US Constitution lays out the framework for the nation's federal government and its three branches
The US Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This event laid out the framework for the nation's federal government and its three branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative branch is made up of the House and the Senate, collectively known as Congress, and is responsible for making laws, declaring war, regulating commerce, and controlling tax and spending policies. The executive branch, on the other hand, is in charge of enforcing these laws and consists of the President, their advisors, and various departments and agencies. Finally, the judicial branch, which includes the Supreme Court and Federal Judicial Center or Federal courts, interprets the laws and decides on cases involving conflicts between states and constitutional questions.
The Signing of the United States Constitution saw 39 delegates endorse the document, representing 12 states, with Rhode Island being the only state that did not send delegates. Interestingly, while the names of 55 delegates who participated in the convention were recorded, only 39 signed the document, with several attendees leaving before the signing ceremony and three refusing to sign. The youngest signer was 26-year-old Jonathan Dayton, and the oldest was 81-year-old Benjamin Franklin, who strongly endorsed the Constitution despite its imperfections.
The Constitution's closing protocol included signatures, a declaration of the delegates' work completion, a statement of the document's adoption by the states present, and a formulaic dating of its adoption. The convention's secretary, William Jackson, added a note verifying four hand-written amendments and signed to authenticate the document's validity.
While no women signed the US Constitution, it is worth noting that a woman's name, Mary Katherine Goddard, appears on a significant version of the Declaration of Independence. Goddard was the printer and postmaster to the Second Continental Congress in Baltimore and may have been the first female postmaster in colonial America.
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The Constitution included women and accorded them rights
The United States Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 39 delegates to the Constitutional Convention, representing 12 states, endorsed the Constitution. The convention's secretary, William Jackson, added a note to verify four amendments made by hand to the final document and signed it to authenticate its validity.
The U.S. Constitution outlines the framework of the nation's federal government and delineates how its three branches (legislative, executive, and judicial) are to function. The rights protected by the First Amendment are not just the rights of the individual but those expressed in public. The Establishment Clause, for example, protects the right of conscience and the right to worship with others. The freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and petition are also rights of the public sphere—they sustain society. Furthermore, the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Amendments protect citizens from overbearing government. Significantly, all of these rights pertained to women. While women were not called to the duties of citizenship, they were certainly accorded its rights. The Constitution, therefore, included women and made them rights bearers.
Historians who believe that the American Revolution and the new American nation rested on a foundation of republican political thought have argued that the government represented only men who had sufficient property to make them independent. However, there was a debate in the Convention about whether property or persons were to be represented, and it was the advocates of persons who prevailed. Once representation was shifted from property to persons, there was no longer any rationale for excluding women. The delegates chose the more inclusive "persons," making it clear in their debates that "persons" included women.
While no women signed the Constitution, it is clear that the document and the rights it enshrined were intended to include women.
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Frequently asked questions
No, a woman did not sign the Constitution. However, it is worth noting that the Constitution included women and made them rights bearers.
39 delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution, representing 12 states.
The signing of the Constitution laid out the framework for the nation's federal government and delineated how its three branches (legislative, executive, and judicial) would function.
The Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
While no women signed the Constitution, a woman's name, Mary Katherine Goddard, appears on a version of the Declaration of Independence. She was a printer and postmaster to the Second Continental Congress in Baltimore and may have been the first female postmaster in colonial America.
