The Founding Fathers' Constitution: Writing Commencement

The Founding Fathers of the United States include those who wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, by 38 delegates, with George Reed signing on behalf of John Dickinson of Delaware, bringing the total number of signatures to 39. The Founding Fathers, representing different interests and views, crafted compromises to create a powerful central government, establishing the three branches of the U.S. government.

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The Founding Fathers

The single person most identified as the ""Father" of the United States is George Washington, a general in the American Revolution and the nation's first president. Other key founders include John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Washington. Most of the Founding Fathers were of English ancestry, though many had family roots extending across various regions of the British Isles, including Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.

On September 17, 1787, 38 delegates signed the Constitution, with George Reed signing on behalf of John Dickinson of Delaware, bringing the total number of signatures to 39. The Founding Fathers understood that the Constitution should be able to change and grow over time, so they included a way to amend it. These changes are called "amendments," and it takes a two-thirds majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or two-thirds of the states to approve them.

The Declaration of Independence

The Founding Fathers include those who wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution of the United States. These documents were all adopted in the colonial capital of Philadelphia. The Founding Fathers also include certain military personnel who fought in the American Revolutionary War and others who greatly assisted in the nation's formation. The single person most identified as the "Father" of the United States is George Washington, a general in the American Revolution and the nation's first president.

The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, the United States' first constitution, in 1781. However, it had no enforcement powers, couldn't regulate commerce, or print money. The states' disputes over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade threatened to tear the young country apart. This led to calls for a Grand Convention of state delegates to work on revising the Articles of Confederation. The Constitutional Convention assembled in Philadelphia in May 1787.

On September 17, 1787, 38 delegates signed the Constitution, with George Reed signing on behalf of John Dickinson of Delaware, bringing the total number of signatures to 39. The delegates came up with a completely new form of government, creating a powerful central government while representing wildly different interests and views. They crafted compromises and set the terms for ratifying the Constitution, bypassing the state legislatures and calling for special ratifying conventions in each state. Ratification by 9 of the 13 states enacted the new government.

The Founding Fathers wanted to set up a fair and balanced government, making it difficult for one person, party, or group to gain control. They included a way to change the Constitution, known as "amendments," which are challenging to implement. The first ten amendments are called the "Bill of Rights," outlining fundamental rights such as freedom of speech, religion, and press.

The Articles of Confederation

The Articles were drafted by Benjamin Franklin, who introduced his plan to Congress on July 21, 1776. The plan was for a firm league among the 13 free and independent states, with each state retaining its sovereignty. The document consisted of six sheets of parchment stitched together, with the last sheet bearing the signatures of delegates from all 13 states.

The Articles were ratified by 12 states by February 1779, 14 months into the process. However, Maryland refused to ratify until February 1781, when the other states agreed to cede their claims to lands west of the Ohio River. The Articles of Confederation were in force from March 1, 1781, until 1789, when the present-day Constitution went into effect.

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The Constitutional Convention

The founding fathers of the United States are the individuals who wrote and signed the United States Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution of the United States. The Constitutional Convention, which assembled in Philadelphia in May 1787, was a gathering of 55 delegates who are referred to as framers of the Constitution. The founding fathers wanted to set up a fair and balanced government, free from the strong rule of Great Britain, which they had recently gained independence from. They also wanted to make it difficult for any one person or group to gain control of the government.

The delegates to the Constitutional Convention represented diverse interests and views, and they crafted compromises to create a powerful central government while remaining loyal to their states. They came up with a completely new form of government, which we know today as the government under the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution established the three branches of government and set out to protect the rights of American citizens.

On September 17, 1787, 38 delegates signed the Constitution, with George Reed signing on behalf of the absent John Dickinson of Delaware, bringing the total to 39 signatures. The founding fathers understood that the Constitution should be able to change and grow over time, so they included a process for amending it. These changes are called "amendments," and they require approval from two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate or two-thirds of the states.

Ratification and amendments

The Founding Fathers of the United States are the individuals who wrote and signed the United States Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution of the United States. Significantly, the Founding Fathers also include certain military personnel who fought in the American Revolutionary War and others who greatly assisted in the nation's formation. The single person most identified as the "Father" of the United States is George Washington, a general in the American Revolution and the nation's first president. Other key founders include John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Washington.

The Constitution of the United States was signed by 38 delegates on September 17, 1787, with George Reed signing on behalf of the absent John Dickinson of Delaware, bringing the total number of signatures to 39. The delegates were tasked with revising the existing government, but they ended up creating an entirely new form of government. They crafted compromises that accommodated the diverse interests and perspectives they represented. The Constitution established a powerful central government while addressing concerns about centralized authority and respecting the interests of the individual states.

To ratify the Constitution, the founders bypassed the state legislatures, recognizing that their members might be reluctant to cede power to a national government. Instead, they called for special ratifying conventions in each state. The Constitution came into effect when it was ratified by 9 of the 13 states, marking the establishment of the new government.

The Constitution has been amended numerous times since its ratification. The authority to amend the Constitution is derived from Article V, which outlines the amendment process. Amendments can be proposed by Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the state legislatures. Notably, none of the 27 amendments to the Constitution have originated from a constitutional convention. Once an amendment is proposed by Congress, it takes the form of a joint resolution, bypassing the President and the White House.

The process then involves the Office of the Federal Register (OFR) and the Archivist of the United States, who is responsible for administering the ratification process. The OFR adds legislative history notes to the joint resolution and publishes it. The OFR also prepares an information package for the states, which includes formal copies of the joint resolution. The governors then submit the amendment to their respective state legislatures, and the states proceed with the ratification process. An amendment becomes part of the Constitution once it is ratified by three-fourths of the states (38 out of 50 states). The OFR verifies the receipt of authenticated ratification documents and drafts a formal proclamation for the Archivist to certify the amendment's validity. This certification is published in the Federal Register and serves as official notice to Congress and the nation that the amendment process is complete.

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