On September 17, 1787, at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, 39 delegates, adopted and signed the Constitution of the United States. Just 4,400 words long, this document is the shortest written, and oldest living constitution any major government in the world.
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As we commemorate the signing of this amazing document, consider a few statements from a few of our founding fathers about this incredible event:
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“…impossible to consider the degree of concord which ultimately prevailed as less than a miracle.”
James Madison
Letter to Thomas Jefferson dated 8 December 1787
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“The Power of the Constitution will always be in the people…Whenever it is executed contrary to their interests, or not agreeable to their wishes, their servants can and undoubtedly will be recalled.”
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George Washington
Letter to Bushrod Washington dated 10 November 1787
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“The true theory of our Constitution is surely the wisest and best, that the states are independent as to everything within themselves, and united as to everything respecting foreign nations. Let the government be reduced to foreign concerns only, and let our affairs be disentangled from those of all other nations, except as in commerce, which the merchants will manage better, the more they are left free to manage for themselves, and our general government may be reduced to a very simple organization, and a very inexpensive one; a few plain duties to be performed by a few servants.”
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Thomas Jefferson
Letter to Gideon Granger, dated 13 August 1800
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“To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people is a chimerical idea.”
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James Madison
at the Virginia Ratifying Convention, 20 June 1788
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“Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
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John Adams
Address to Massachusetts Militia, 11 October 1798
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“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”
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Benjamin Franklin
Letter to Messrs. The Abbes Chalut and Arnaud, 17 April 1787
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“The sum of all is, if we would most truly enjoy the gift of Heaven, let us become a virtuous people; then shall we both deserve and enjoy it. While, on the other hand, if we are universally vicious and debauched in our manners, though the form of our Constitution carries the face of the most exalted freedom, we shall in reality be the most abject slaves.”
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Samuel Adams
Wells, The Life and Public Service of Samuel Adams, 1:22-23
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“It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions…There are men, in all ages…who mean to govern well; but they mean to govern. They promise to be kind masters, but they mean to be masters…They think there need be but little restraint upon themselves…The love of power may sink too deep in their own hearts…Hold on, my friends to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster, and what has happened once in 6000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world.”
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Daniel Webster
Speech delivered at Niblo’s Saloon, New York, on 15 March 1837