Today Is Constitution Day
(September
17)
The Constitutional Convention of 1787 lasted
nearly four months, fraught with debates, discussions, and compromise.
>From May 25, 2022 until the signing of the final draft on September
17, 1787, every issue was on the table, every word was
scrutinized.
The United States Senate has placed the following
on their website, www.Senate.gov,
"The United States celebrates Constitution Day on the 17th of
September. On that day in 1787, thirty-nine delegates to the
Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia signed the Constitution
of the United States. Among the important consequences of that
action was the
creation of the United States Senate. This would not have been
possible without the
Great Compromise reached one month earlier, which established the
basis of representation in the Senate and House of Representatives,
ending a dispute between the large and small states. New Hampshire
adopted the Constitution on June 21, 1788, becoming the necessary ninth
state to ensure the document's ratification. The following September,
the Pennsylvania legislature elected William Maclay and Robert Morris,
the
first United States senators chosen under the new Constitution. In
2004, Senator
Robert C. Byrd introduced and the Senate passed legislation to
establish a yearly celebration of 'Constitution Day.' "
The following is written by Dorothy Robbins,
[email protected], who serves in
California J.A.I.L. as an Associate JAILer-In-Chief, (AJIC).
SEPTEMBER
17, 1787
Two hundred years ago today
Our Founding Fathers paved the way
For government by "We the people. "
Today we celebrate the signing
Of the document combining
Self-government and government by principle.
To Franklin, to Hamilton and to Washington,
To the Pinckneys, to Morris and to Madison
we owe a debt of gratitude--
Yes, and to those who pledged their lives,
their fortunes, and their sacred honor--
To Hancock, Rodney, Sherman, Witherspoon and more,
who paid those vows with faith and fortitude.
Hail to the Constitution of the U.S.A.
And to the God whose law we must obey
And thus ensure our union's preservation;
Hail to the men of sterling character
Past, present, future--you who are standing here--
Pledged to Liberty's perpetuation.
Let us pray :
To God who brought us safe thus far:
Keep safe the red, blue, white, the stripe, the star;
Keep safe our Constitution--word and phrase;
Keep safe our liberty, our conscience, right to praise;
Keep true good men whose labors shall not fail
To keep intact our Constitution--and prevail!
To thee, our Constitution Maker, Keeper, praise!
To thee, our Guardian God, our thanks we raise!
PLEDGE TO THE CONSTITUTION
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE
TO THE CONSTITUTION OF
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
WHOSE form and spirit are derived from the Holy Scriptures
in order to guarantee those God-given rights enumerated in
the Bill of Rights, and thereby to secure to me and to my posterity
LIFE, LIBERTY, and PROPERTY
AND, in the pursuit of these ends so limits the
functions of civil government as that these rights
cannot be abrogated by unprincipled men.
I WILL EVER UPHOLD AND DEFEND it
against all who would seek to undermine, subvert, or destroy it,
AND, to this end, as a sacred trust from those
who first uttered these words,
I PLEDGE MY LIFE, MY FORTUNE AND MY SACRED HONOR,
trusting in that same Divine Providence
in whom our fore-fathers put their reliance.
Amen.
by Dorothy Robbins�'93