Isabella Carter
The US Constitution, signed on September 17, 1787, established the office of the President of the United States. Of the 39 men who signed the document, only two were or would become president. The first, George Washington, was president of the convention and signed the Constitution first. The second, James Madison, would go on to become the fourth president of the United States and is considered the Father of the US Constitution.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of people who signed the Constitution | 39 |
| Number of future presidents who signed the Constitution | 2 |
| Names of the future presidents who signed the Constitution | George Washington, James Madison |
| Number of people selected to attend the Constitutional Convention | 74 |
| Number of people who attended the Constitutional Convention | 55 |
| Number of states represented at the Constitutional Convention | 12 |
| Number of states that needed to approve the Constitution | 9 |
| Number of states that approved the Constitution by January 9, 1788 | 5 |
| Number of people who signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution | 6 |
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![Founding Fathers [DVD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71f9-HsS5nL._AC_UY218_.jpg)
What You'll Learn
George Washington was the first to sign the Constitution
George Washington, the first President of the United States, was the first to sign the Constitution. He was also the president of the Constitutional Convention, and his signature is the only one that is not grouped by state. Washington signed the document near the right margin of the page, and when the delegates ran out of space, they began a second column of signatures to the left.
Washington was unanimously elected president of the Philadelphia convention on May 25, 1787. The convention culminated with the signing of the document on September 17, 1787. Of the 74 delegates who were chosen, 55 attended and 39 signed. Several attendees left before the signing ceremony, and three of the 42 who remained refused to sign.
The Constitution established the office of the President of the United States. However, of the 39 signers, only two were or would eventually serve as president: George Washington, and James Madison, who became the fourth president.
Interestingly, some of the most famous founding fathers did not sign the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson, the future third president, was in France serving as the US minister. John Adams, the future second president, was in Great Britain serving as the US minister. Benjamin Franklin, at 81, was the oldest signer of the Constitution and needed assistance to do so.
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James Madison was the last signer to die, in 1836
The U.S. Constitution, signed on September 17, 1787, established the office of the President of the United States. Of the 39 signers, only two were or would eventually serve as president. The first, George Washington, was president at the time of the signing, and the second was James Madison, who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817.
Madison, born in 1751 in Virginia, was a prominent slave-owning planter and statesman who played a pivotal role in drafting and promoting the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. He was also the only delegate to attend every meeting of the Constitutional Convention, which was convened to strengthen the national government.
Following his presidency, Madison returned to his plantation, Montpelier, where he died in 1836 on June 28, at the age of 85. He was the last surviving signer of the U.S. Constitution and one of the last prominent members of the Revolutionary War generation to die. Madison's health had slowly deteriorated throughout the 1830s, and he ultimately passed away from congestive heart failure.
Madison's final words were in response to his niece, Nellie Madison Willis, who asked him if he was alright. He replied, "Nothing more than a change of mind, my dear," and died shortly after. He was buried in the family cemetery at Montpelier, leaving significant sums to the American Colonization Society, Princeton, and the University of Virginia.
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Benjamin Franklin, aged 81, was the oldest signer
Benjamin Franklin was 81 years old when he signed the United States Constitution, making him the oldest signer. Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and played a significant role in the country's early history. He was a statesman, author, publisher, scientist, inventor, and diplomat. Franklin's formal education was limited, ending when he was just 10 years old. However, he was an avid reader and self-taught writer, contributing essays to newspapers as early as age 16.
Franklin was deeply involved in public affairs in Philadelphia, where he helped establish a lending library, hospital, and college. He gained acclaim for his experiments with electricity and invented the Franklin stove, which provided more heat while using less fuel than other stoves, and bifocal eyeglasses. He also developed a musical instrument called the glass armonica, which fell out of use by the early 19th century.
In addition to his scientific pursuits, Franklin was actively involved in politics. During the American Revolution, he served in the Second Continental Congress and helped draft the Declaration of Independence in 1776. He also negotiated the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War. In 1787, Franklin was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, which produced the US Constitution.
Despite his advanced age, Franklin strongly endorsed the Constitution and worked to gain the support of critics. He proposed that the Constitution be endorsed by the delegates as individual witnesses of the unanimous consent of the states present, rather than on behalf of particular states. Due to his poor health, Franklin needed assistance in signing the document and was carried to the sessions in a sedan chair. Franklin summed up the sentiments of those who signed, stating that while he did not approve of every part of the Constitution, he accepted it because he expected no better and was unsure if a better one would be created.
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Jonathan Dayton, aged 26, was the youngest signer
The U.S. Constitution, signed on September 17, 1787, established the office of the President of the United States. Of the 39 signers, only two were or would eventually serve as president: George Washington, who was the first president and was president at the time of the signing, and James Madison, who would go on to become the fourth president.
Jonathan Dayton, aged 26, was the youngest delegate to sign the U.S. Constitution. Benjamin Franklin, aged 81, was the oldest. Franklin was so infirm that he had to be carried to the Constitutional Convention in a sedan chair and needed assistance to sign the document. Franklin was also the first signer to die, in April 1790, while Madison was the last, dying in June 1836.
Dayton was a delegate from New Jersey. He was one of 70 individuals appointed by the original states to the Constitutional Convention, except for Rhode Island, which did not send any delegates. Of these 70 individuals, 55 attended the sessions, but only 39 actually signed the Constitution.
The signers' names are, with the exception of Convention President George Washington, grouped by state, with the listing of states arranged geographically from north to south. Interestingly, while the small state of Delaware might seem insignificant today, it had the second-most delegates (five) sign the Constitution.
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Only two of the 39 signers would go on to serve as president
The US Constitution, signed on September 17, 1787, established the office of the President of the United States. Of the 39 signers, only two were or would eventually serve as president.
The first of these two was George Washington, who was the president of the Constitutional Convention and the first president of the United States at the time of the signing. Washington was unanimously elected as president of the Philadelphia convention on May 25, 1787. He was the first to sign the Constitution, followed by the other 38 delegates, grouped by states from north to south.
The second was James Madison, who would go on to become the fourth president of the United States. Madison is considered the Father of the US Constitution and was the last signer of the Constitution to die, in June 1836. He was the only delegate to attend every meeting of the Constitutional Convention. His journal from the Convention was kept secret until after his death and was finally published in 1840.
Interestingly, the future third and second presidents, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, respectively, were both absent from the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Jefferson was in France serving as the US minister, while Adams was in Great Britain serving in the same role.
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Frequently asked questions
Only two future presidents signed the Constitution: George Washington, the first president of the United States, and James Madison, who would go on to become the fourth president.
Thomas Jefferson, the future third president, did not sign the Constitution as he was in France serving as the U.S. minister. John Adams, the future second president, was also absent from the 1787 Constitutional Convention as he was in Great Britain serving as the U.S. minister.
39 men signed the Constitution, all of whom were white and property owners.
