Eleanor Finch
The U.S. Constitution was debated, drafted, and ratified in the Assembly Room of Independence Hall, Philadelphia, from May 25 to September 17, 1787. The Assembly Room is the heart of Independence Hall, which was initially called the Pennsylvania State House. The building was designated a World Heritage Site in 1979 and is now the centerpiece of Independence National Historical Park. The original copy of the Constitution is now kept in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom in the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name of the room | Assembly Room |
| Name of the building | Independence Hall |
| Location | Philadelphia |
| Year of construction | 1753 |
| Events | Signing of the Declaration of Independence, signing of the U.S. Constitution, establishment of the Continental Army, appointment of George Washington as commander-in-chief, appointment of Benjamin Franklin as Postmaster General |
| Current status | Designated as a World Heritage Site in 1979, serves as the centerpiece of Independence National Historical Park |
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What You'll Learn
Independence Hall, Philadelphia
Independence Hall in Philadelphia is a historic civic building where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were debated, signed, and adopted by the Founding Fathers of the United States. The building, which is the centerpiece of Independence National Historical Park, was designated a World Heritage Site in 1979. Construction of Independence Hall, which was initially called the Pennsylvania State House, was completed in 1753. It served as the first capitol of the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania.
The Assembly Room is the heart of Independence Hall and is the room where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed. On July 4, 1776, the 56 delegates to the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence in the Assembly Room. From May 25 to September 17, 1787, Independence Hall hosted the Constitutional Convention, where the U.S. Constitution was debated, drafted, and ratified. The delegates to the Constitutional Convention created the U.S. Constitution in four months, a feat George Washington called "little short of a miracle".
During the debates, Pennsylvania delegate and elder statesman Benjamin Franklin looked at the chair where Washington was seated as the presiding officer. Carved into that chair is a sun. As the men signed the Constitution, Franklin said that he had the great happiness to know it was a "rising and not a setting sun". The Assembly Room later became a shrine to the founding of the nation, displaying the Liberty Bell and original paintings of the Founding Fathers.
In addition to being the site where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were debated and signed, Independence Hall served as the principal meeting place of the Second Continental Congress from May 10, 1775, to 1783. On June 14, 1775, delegates of the Continental Congress, gathered in the Assembly Room, established the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander-in-chief. Following his assassination, Abraham Lincoln's body lay in repose in the Assembly Room for two days, with upwards of 85,000 mourners passing by the casket.
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Assembly Room
The Assembly Room is the heart of Independence Hall, a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were debated, signed, and adopted by the Founding Fathers of the United States.
The Pennsylvania State House, as it was initially called, served as the principal meeting place of the Second Continental Congress, a body of representatives from each of the thirteen British North American colonies, from May 10, 1775, to 1783. On June 14, 1775, delegates of the Continental Congress, gathered in the Assembly Room, established the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander-in-chief.
On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was unanimously approved in present-day Independence Hall and was signed in the Assembly Room on August 2, 1776. The Assembly Room was loaned to the men of the Constitutional Convention in May 1787 to address the inadequacies of the Articles of Confederation. In four months, they created the U.S. Constitution, which was debated, drafted, and ratified.
The Assembly Room took on the appearance of a shrine in the 1854-55 redecoration. President-elect Abraham Lincoln visited the room in 1861 and praised the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence. Following his assassination, Lincoln's body lay in repose here for two days, with upwards of 85,000 mourners passing by the casket.
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The Declaration of Independence
On July 4, 1776, the 56 delegates to the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, which was largely written over the previous two weeks by Thomas Jefferson from his second-floor apartment on Market Street, within walking distance of Independence Hall. The Declaration of Independence was read aloud to the public in the area now known as Independence Square. The document expressed the ideals on which the United States was founded and the reasons for separation from Great Britain.
The Assembly Room later became a shrine to the founding of the nation, displaying the Liberty Bell and original paintings of the Founding Fathers. Abraham Lincoln visited the Assembly Room in 1861 as he travelled to Washington, D.C., for his inauguration. He praised the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence, stating that he would rather be "assassinated on the spot" than give up those ideals. Following his assassination in 1865, Lincoln's body lay in repose in the Assembly Room for two days, with upwards of 85,000 mourners passing by the casket.
Today, the original copy of the Declaration of Independence is kept in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom in the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. The document is stored alongside the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The Rotunda was designed by architect John Russell Pope as a shrine to American democracy, with a soaring domed ceiling featuring two murals by Barry Faulkner, depicting fictional scenes of the "presentations" of the Declaration of Independence.
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The Constitutional Convention
The U.S. Constitution was debated, drafted, and ratified at the Constitutional Convention, which took place in the Assembly Room of Independence Hall in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. Independence Hall, originally known as the Pennsylvania State House, was designated a World Heritage Site in 1979 and is now the centerpiece of Independence National Historical Park.
The Assembly Room, where the Constitution was signed, became a shrine to the founding of the nation. President-elect Abraham Lincoln visited the room in 1861 and praised the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence. After his assassination in 1865, his body lay in repose in the Assembly Room for two days, with upwards of 85,000 mourners passing by the casket.
Today, the original copy of the Constitution is kept in the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C., in a room called the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom. The document has been preserved and displayed in modern encasements since 2003, with proper humidity control and argon gas to protect it from degradation. The National Archives Museum is open to the public, allowing visitors to view the Constitution, along with the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, firsthand.
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The Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom
The Rotunda was designed by architect John Russell Pope as a shrine to American democracy. It features a soaring domed ceiling and two murals by Barry Faulkner, depicting fictional scenes of the "presentations" of the Declaration of Independence. The Charters of Freedom are flanked by these two grand murals, one featuring Thomas Jefferson amidst the Continental Congress, and the other featuring James Madison at the Constitutional Convention.
The National Archives Building preserves and displays the Charters of Freedom in massive, bronze-framed, bulletproof, moisture-controlled sealed display cases. By night, the documents are stored in multi-ton bomb-proof vaults. The National Archives Museum is open to the public, allowing anyone who purchases a ticket to see these documents firsthand.
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Frequently asked questions
The room where the US Constitution was written is called the Assembly Room, and it is the heart of Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
The Declaration of Independence was also signed in the Assembly Room. Abraham Lincoln visited the Assembly Room in 1861 and his body lay in repose there for two days after his assassination in 1865.
The original copy of the Constitution is kept in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom in the National Archives Building in Washington, DC.
