Malcolm Rivera
The United States Constitution, the country's supreme law, superseded the Articles of Confederation on March 4, 1789. The Constitution was signed by 39 delegates, including George Washington of Virginia, who presided over the Federal Convention of 1787. The five signatories who signed the Constitution but did not serve in the Continental or Confederation Congresses were Jonathan Dayton, aged 26, Benjamin Franklin, aged 81, William Paterson, Gunning Bedford Jr., and John Blair Jr.
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![Founding Fathers [DVD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71f9-HsS5nL._AC_UY218_.jpg)
What You'll Learn
- John Adams of Massachusetts, who later became the second US president
- Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, who later became the third US president
- Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, an intellectual among the Founding Fathers
- Roger Sherman of Connecticut, the only person to sign all four US state papers
- Robert Livingston of New York, the first US Secretary of Foreign Affairs
John Adams of Massachusetts, who later became the second US president
Adams was a representative of Massachusetts and was one of the 55 delegates who attended the sessions of the Constitutional Convention. The Constitutional Convention was convened to revise the Articles of Confederation, which established the first national government. The Articles' primary weakness was that they protected the sovereignty of the states, but lacked the power to raise revenue or conduct diplomatic relations. The delegates to the Convention ranged in age from Jonathan Dayton, aged 26, to Benjamin Franklin, aged 81.
The Committee of Five left no minutes, so there is some uncertainty about how the drafting process proceeded. However, accounts written by Jefferson and Adams years later indicate that after discussing the general outline of the document, the Second Continental Congress decided that Jefferson would write the first draft. Jefferson had limited time to write the draft, and after 17 days, he consulted with the other members of the committee, who reviewed the draft and made extensive changes. Jefferson then produced another copy incorporating these alterations.
The United States Constitution superseded the Articles of Confederation on March 4, 1789, and it is the supreme law of the United States of America. The Constitution delineates the frame of the federal government and embodies the doctrine of the separation of powers. The federal government is divided into three branches: the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Congress; the executive, consisting of the president and subordinate officers; and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal courts.
Geographical Order: Constitution Signing's Sequential Arrangement
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Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, who later became the third US president
Thomas Jefferson of Virginia was one of the five men who signed the Second Continental Congress's Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, and later became the third president of the United States. The Second Continental Congress, which convened in Philadelphia, served as the provisional government of the United States from 1774 to 1781. The Declaration of Independence was drafted by the Committee of Five, which included Jefferson, and was presented to the full Congress in the Pennsylvania State House.
Jefferson was a representative of Virginia and played a significant role in the drafting process. After the committee discussed the general outline of the document, it was decided that Jefferson would write the first draft. He had limited time to work on it, and then he consulted with the other committee members, who made extensive changes. Jefferson produced another copy, incorporating these alterations. One notable change was the simplification of the phrase "preservation of life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness" to the more concise "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
The Committee of Five also included John Adams of Massachusetts, who later became the second US president; Roger Sherman of Connecticut, the only person to sign all four US state papers; Robert Livingston of New York, who later served as the first US Secretary of Foreign Affairs; and Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, a renowned intellectual among the Founding Fathers.
The Second Continental Congress's Declaration of Independence, signed by these five men, marked a pivotal moment in the history of the United States, asserting its sovereignty and setting the stage for the nation's independence and the creation of a new constitution.
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Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, an intellectual among the Founding Fathers
Benjamin Franklin, born on January 17, 1706, in Boston, Massachusetts, was one of the most famous intellectuals among the Founding Fathers. He was a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Franklin's formal education was limited and ended when he was 10, but he was an avid reader and taught himself to write. At the age of 12, he was apprenticed to his older brother James, a Boston printer, and by 16, he was contributing essays to a newspaper published by his brother.
Franklin moved to Philadelphia at 17, where he found work as a printer. In 1726, he returned to Philadelphia and, two years later, opened a printing shop. The business became highly successful, producing a range of materials, including government pamphlets, books, and currency. In 1729, he became the owner and publisher of a colonial newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette, which proved popular, and to which he contributed much of the content, often using pseudonyms. He also published Poor Richard's Almanack under the pseudonym "Richard Saunders".
Franklin founded many civic organizations, including the Library Company, Philadelphia's first fire department, and the University of Pennsylvania. He earned the title of "The First American" for his early and tireless campaigning for colonial unity. He was also a key figure in the colonial postal system. In 1754, he proposed the Albany Plan, which helped lay the groundwork for the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States.
Franklin was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and was the only person to sign the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Alliance with France, the Treaty of Paris, and the U.S. Constitution. He was one of the foremost Founding Fathers, and his academic writings and press publications significantly influenced the American Revolution.
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Roger Sherman of Connecticut, the only person to sign all four US state papers
Roger Sherman, a resident of Connecticut, is the only person to have signed all four of the most significant documents in US history. These documents are the Continental Association, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the United States Constitution.
Sherman was born in Newton, Massachusetts, on April 19, 1721, and was the second of seven children born to William and Mehetabel Sherman. His father was a farmer and a cordwainer (a shoemaker and leatherworker). Roger Sherman learned the trade of shoemaking from his father and also taught himself surveying. When his father died, he assumed responsibility for the family estate at the age of 19. He then moved with his family to New Milford, Connecticut, in 1743. There, he began to actively participate in town affairs, possibly due to his growing interest in land speculation.
Sherman established a legal career in Litchfield County, Connecticut, despite a lack of formal education. He was admitted to the bar of Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1754, with the encouragement of a local lawyer. He served in the Connecticut House of Representatives and as a justice of the Superior Court of Connecticut from 1766 to 1789. He also served as the first mayor of New Haven, Connecticut, in 1784.
Sherman was a delegate to the Continental Congress and was a member of the Committee of Five, which drafted the Declaration of Independence. He was a vocal supporter of Alexander Hamilton's proposal for federal assumption of states' debts and is credited with fathering the Connecticut Compromise, which led to the formation of a bicameral legislature. Sherman was also a delegate to the 1787 Philadelphia Convention, which produced the United States Constitution. After the ratification of the Constitution, he represented Connecticut in the United States House of Representatives from 1789 to 1791 and in the United States Senate from 1791 until his death in 1793.
Thomas Jefferson's Signature on the US Constitution
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Robert Livingston of New York, the first US Secretary of Foreign Affairs
Robert R. Livingston, born on November 27, 1746, in New York, was an early American leader devoted to the idea of independence from Britain. He was a member of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence but was recalled by the state of New York before he could sign the document. Livingston was the first United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Articles of Confederation from 1781 to 1783. He was also the first chancellor of New York, serving from 1777 to 1801, which was then the highest judicial officer in the state. Livingston administered the presidential oath of office to George Washington at his first inauguration on April 30, 1789, at Federal Hall in New York City.
Livingston came from a wealthy and influential New York family. He was admitted to the bar in 1770 and worked on numerous committees of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. He was particularly active in the areas of finance and foreign and judicial affairs. Livingston also helped draft New York state's first constitution in 1777.
In addition to his political career, Livingston was a Freemason and was appointed the first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New York in 1784, retaining this title until 1801. He was also involved in steam navigation experiments during his retirement, partnering with inventor Robert Fulton to receive a steamboat monopoly in New York waters. Their first successful steam vessel, named the Clermont after Livingston's ancestral home, operated on the Hudson River in 1807. Livingston and Fulton also developed the first viable steamboat, the North River Steamboat, which had its home port at the Livingston family home in Clermont, New York. In 1811, the two became members of the Erie Canal Commission.
Livingston County, Kentucky, and Livingston County, New York, are named for him, and he is included on the Jefferson Memorial pediment sculpture, which honors the Committee of Five.
Who Really Signed the Constitution First?
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Frequently asked questions
39 delegates signed the US Constitution.
The five men who signed the US Constitution but did not serve in the Continental or Confederation Congresses were: Roscoe R. Hill, Jack N. Rakove, Robert Middlekauff, Clinton J. Rossiter, and Randolph.
The oldest person to sign the US Constitution was Benjamin Franklin, aged 81.
The youngest person to sign the US Constitution was Jonathan Dayton, aged 26.
The US Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789.
