Today we join schools across the country to celebrate Constitution Day. On September 17, 1787, 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention gathered in Independence Hall in Philadelphia to sign the document that would determine the structure and function of our federal government. The original Constitution is on permanent display in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom and the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
It is one of the oldest written constitutions in the world. Its genius lay in its solutions to such problems as balancing strong government against too much individual or institutional power and preventing large states from dominating smaller ones.
The first issue was dealt with by dividing the government into three branches. The second issue, negotiating power between states, was resolved by having a senate with two senators from each state and a House of Representatives based on population. Four years after the Constitution was written, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights specified a list of individual freedoms, including freedom of speech, assembly, and worship.
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