Who Signed The Constitution? Understanding Its Historical Context

The United States Constitution, drafted in 1787, was signed by 39 men, all of whom were white, male, and property owners. The Constitution was meant to secure the blessings of liberty to the American people, but these rights and liberties were intended only for white men of property. The Founding Fathers did not believe that women, African Americans (both slave and free), or men without property were equal to the propertied white men entrusted with civic participation. This belief was reflected in the Naturalization Act of 1790, which limited naturalization to free white persons...of good character. Despite the Constitution's promise of liberty and equality, it took many years of activism and legislative changes for these rights to be extended to all citizens, regardless of race, gender, or marital status.

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The US Constitution was signed by 39 men

The Constitution gave Congress the power to set uniform rules for naturalization and confer citizenship. The Naturalization Act of 1790 was the first law to do so, and it limited naturalization to "free white person(s)...of good character." This excluded Native Americans, indentured servants, enslaved persons, free blacks, and Asians. While the 14th Amendment in 1868 granted citizenship regardless of race, it excluded untaxed "Indians" (Native Americans living on reservations). It wasn't until the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 that Native Americans were granted blanket citizenship.

The Constitution also did not address or define citizenship, but it did mention "citizens of the States" and "citizen of the United States." Changes to citizenship were often accomplished through legislative actions, judicial proceedings, and activism. For example, the activism of free blacks during the Negro Convention Movement (1831-1864) advanced the idea that "the elevation of the free man is inseparable from and lies at the very threshold of the great work of the slave's restoration to freedom."

The Constitution was signed by delegates who attended the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Seventy men attended, many of whom were American Revolution fighters and Congress members. However, only 55 delegates attended most of the meetings, and there were never more than 46 present at any one time. Interestingly, 20% of the signers (eight out of 39) were from Pennsylvania, and Delaware had the second-most delegates with five.

All of them were white

The United States Constitution was signed by 39 men, and they were all white. The Constitution was drafted in 1787, and it put into writing how the government of the United States should operate. The document was signed by delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. While there was no diversity in terms of colour or gender, there was a wide disparity in the age of the attendees. The youngest delegate to sign the Constitution was 26-year-old New Jersey's Jonathan Dayton, while Benjamin Franklin was the oldest at 81.

The Constitution was meant to "secure the blessings of liberty" to the American people. However, these rights and liberties were intended only for white men of property. The Founding Fathers never imagined that women, African Americans (both slave and free), or men without property could be their equal. The leaders of this country at its founding were mostly rich white men, and many citizens weren't allowed to vote because they didn't own enough property.

The Naturalization Act of 1790 further reinforced this exclusion by stipulating that only "free white persons" could become citizens. This act was the only US statute to use the term "natural-born citizen," which appeared in the US Constitution regarding eligibility to serve as president or vice president. While the act did not explicitly deny women citizenship, it absorbed the common-law practice of coverture, which placed a woman's physical body and any rights to her person or property under the control of her husband.

The Constitution, therefore, reflected the racial and gender biases of its time, with the ideals of liberty and equality espoused within it limited to a select few. It would take many years and significant social and legislative changes for these rights to be extended to all Americans, regardless of race or gender.

They were also property owners

The United States Constitution, drafted in 1787, was signed by 39 men, all of whom were white and property owners. The Founding Fathers, who wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence, were also the same group of people who drafted and signed the Constitution. They were rich, white men who were the 1% of their day, and they intended to keep the privileges and power in their own hands. The majority of them were also slave owners, including Thomas Jefferson, who authored the Declaration of Independence.

The Constitution was drafted by a convention of 70 men, many of whom had fought in the American Revolution, and about three-fourths of whom had served in Congress. The convention was held in Philadelphia, with Rhode Island opting not to send any delegates. Interestingly, despite 70 attendees, only 55 delegates attended most of the meetings, and there were never more than 46 present at any one time. The average age of the delegates was 42, with Benjamin Franklin being the oldest at 81, and New Jersey's Jonathan Dayton being the youngest at 26.

The Constitution was meant to "secure the blessings of liberty" to the American people, but these rights and liberties were intended only for white men of property. The Founding Fathers did not consider women, African Americans (both enslaved and free), or men without property to be equal to the propertied white men who were entrusted with civic participation. This exclusion was also reflected in the Naturalization Act of 1790, which stipulated that only "free white persons" of "good character" could become citizens. This Act was modelled on the British Plantation Act of 1740, which similarly restricted naturalization to "foreign Protestants".

The Constitution's failure to address or define citizenship led to subsequent legislative actions, judicial proceedings, and activism to bring about changes in citizenship and naturalization. The Fourteenth Amendment, passed in 1868 after the Civil War, granted citizenship to people born in the United States regardless of race, but it excluded untaxed "Indians" (Native Americans living on reservations). It was not until the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 that Native Americans were granted blanket citizenship, regardless of tribal affiliation.

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The document was drafted in 1787

The United States Constitution was drafted in 1787, and it put into writing how the government of the United States should operate. The document was drafted by a convention of delegates, all of whom were white men, that met in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia. The convention was attended by 70 men, three-quarters of whom had served in Congress, and many of whom had fought in the American Revolution. However, only 39 men, all of whom were white, property-owning males, signed the document. The youngest delegate to sign the Constitution was 26-year-old New Jersey native Jonathan Dayton, while Benjamin Franklin, at 81, was the oldest and needed assistance to sign.

The Constitution gave Congress the power to set uniform rules for naturalization, which conferred citizenship. The Naturalization Act of 1790 set the first rules on naturalization, limiting citizenship to "free, white persons" of good character who had been residents for at least two years. This excluded Native Americans, indentured servants, enslaved persons, free blacks, and Asians. The Act was the only US statute to use the term "natural-born citizen", which appeared in the Constitution concerning prerequisites for the presidency and vice presidency.

The Constitution purported to secure the blessings of liberty to the American people. However, these rights and liberties were intended only for white men of property. The Founding Fathers never imagined that women, African Americans, or men without property could be equal to the propertied white men entrusted with civic participation. This belief was reflected in the Naturalization Act of 1790, which specified that only "free white persons" could become citizens. The majority of white males who became naturalized citizens between 1830 and 1860 enjoyed rights denied to native-born non-whites.

The ideals of equality and liberty expressed in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence would later inspire civil rights movements and amendments to the Constitution. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution formally ended slavery, guaranteed equal protection under the law, and gave African-American men the right to vote. The 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920, granted women the right to vote. In 1940, Congress extended citizenship eligibility to "descendants of races indigenous to the Western Hemisphere", "Filipino persons or persons of Filipino descent", "Chinese persons or persons of Chinese descent", and "persons of races indigenous to India". Finally, in 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Hart-Celler Act, which abolished quota systems based on national origin and established an immigration policy focused on reuniting immigrant families and attracting skilled labour.

It was signed 11 years after the Declaration of Independence

The US Constitution was signed 11 years after the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, and the Constitution was drafted in 1787 and signed into law in 1788. The Constitution was intended to secure the blessings of liberty to the American people. However, these rights and liberties were meant only for white men of property. The Founding Fathers never intended for women, African Americans, or men without property to have the same rights as propertied white men.

The Constitution was signed by 39 men, all of whom were white and property owners. The youngest delegate to sign the Constitution was 26-year-old New Jersey's Jonathan Dayton, while the oldest was 81-year-old Benjamin Franklin, who needed assistance in signing the document. The average age of the delegates was 42.

The lack of diversity among the signers of the Constitution is a stark reminder of the country's early history of discrimination and exclusion. Despite the Declaration of Independence's proclamation that "all men are created equal," the leaders of the country at its founding were mostly rich, white men. Many of them owned slaves, and they did not believe that all people were entitled to the same rights as they were.

The Naturalization Act of 1790 further emphasized the exclusionary nature of citizenship by limiting it to "free white persons" of "good character." This act eliminated any ambiguity around the treatment of newcomers, as some states had previously allowed free black people to become citizens. The act also specified that the right of citizenship did "not descend to persons whose fathers had never been resident in the United States."

It wasn't until the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, following the Civil War, that significant changes were made to citizenship. This amendment granted citizenship to people born in the United States, regardless of race, but it excluded Native Americans living on reservations. Even then, women's access to citizenship was tied to their marital status, and it wasn't until the 1920s that women gained the right to vote and Native Americans were granted blanket citizenship.

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