America’s Defining Documents

The Declaration of Independence. The Constitution. The Bill of Rights. America’s founding documents were the result of debates and compromises that created a new nation unlike any other. Learn more about the history and content of America’s defining documents.

13 Facts About the US Constitution

Surprising details about our nation’s founding document

Signed in 1787, the U.S. Constitution includes a preamble and seven articles that outline how the American government is organized and operates. Let’s take a closer look at its creation and test your knowledge to see how much you know about the US Constitution.

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The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were both written and signed in the same house. Flip to find out where history was made...

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The Constitution was written and signed in 1787, but it could not go into effect until at least nine states ratified it; the ninth ratification vote came 10 months later, in 1788, from New Hampshire.

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The first state to ratify the Constitution was Delaware. Flip to learn more...

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Rhode Island was the 13th and last state to ratify the Constitution. Flip to learn more...

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The individual rights that Rhode Island and other states wanted were added in 1791 in the form of 10 amendments to the Constitution that became known as the Bill of Rights.

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The process of creating the Constitution took about three and a half months. Flip to learn more...

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Fifty-five delegates, representing 12 of the 13 states, attended the Constitutional Convention. Flip to learn more...

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Much of what historians know about the Constitutional Convention comes from the meticulous notes taken by Virginia delegate James Madison during the meetings.

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Early drafts of the Constitution didn’t begin with the familiar phrase “We the People of the United States.”

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New York delegate Gouverneur Morris, who has been called the “Penman of the Constitution,” was the main editor for the document’s text, including the preamble.

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Six men signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, which were written 11 years apart: George Clymer, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, George Read, Roger Sherman, and James Wilson.

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Of the signers of the Constitution, two became president: George Washington and James Madison.

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Which 3 delegates at the convention refused to sign the Constitution?

Little-Known Facts About the Declaration of Independence

They may not be so ‘self-evident’

The purpose of the Declaration of Independence is as clear as its name — to state why the 13 colonies had the right to break political ties with Great Britain and form their own government. But this move to independence didn’t happen overnight. Read these 16 facts about the origins of the Declaration of Independence and then test your knowledge!

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A famous 1818 painting by John Trumbull depicts the presentation of the draft of the Declaration of Independence to the Continental Congress by the Committee of Five on June 28.

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In a letter to his wife, John Adams shared the news that the Continental Congress had declared independence from Britain.

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There is no singular authoritative copy of the Declaration of Independence.

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The committee appointed John Adams and Thomas Jefferson to write the original draft of what later became known as the Declaration of Independence.

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In a letter many years later, in 1822, Adams remembered that he insisted Jefferson take the lead. Why? According to Adams, Jefferson was from Virginia, one of the most important colonies; Jefferson was better liked; and Jefferson had more talent as a writer. Adams praised Jefferson’s other documents as having a “peculiar felicity of expression.”

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For the next two days, members of the Continental Congress discussed and modified Jefferson’s draft.

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Thomas Jefferson was 33 years old when he wrote the Declaration of Independence.

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About 200 prints of the Declaration, called broadside editions, are believed to have been produced by printer John Dunlap on the night of July 4, 1776 (26 remain today).

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Benjamin Franklin, at 70 years old, was the oldest signer. Flip to find out who the youngest was...

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Not all members of the Continental Congress were ready to accept the Lee Resolution.

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For some colonists, the desire to separate from Britain had been brewing for years.

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Their aspirations were formally expressed by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia on June 7, 1776, when he presented a resolution to the Second Continental Congress at the State House in Philadelphia stating that the colonies “are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.” Lee’s call to dissolve political ties with Britain, which became known as the Lee Resolution, set the stage for the declaration.

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The Declaration of Independence was first read aloud in public on July 8, 1776, by Col. John Nixon outside the State House in Philadelphia.

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John Hancock, president of the Second Continental Congress, was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence, on Aug. 2, 1776.

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Which 3 founding fathers died on the Fourth of July?

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After the signing ceremony in Philadelphia, the signed parchment version of the Declaration of Independence was moved often — sometimes to protect it during war, other times to preserve or display it.

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His opening words asserted a common idea among European Enlightenment thinkers of the time: that “all men are created equal.” The phrase was later used to advocate for women’s right to vote and civil rights for African Americans.

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The Continental Congress formally assembled again on July 1 to consider the Lee Resolution for independence.

How Did the Bill of Rights Come to Be?

Learn more about the history and evolution of the first 10 amendments

In U.S. history classes, Americans learn that the first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution are called the Bill of Rights, which collectively guarantees individual liberties and prevents tyranny from the federal government. The First Amendment alone secures five of America’s most cherished freedoms: religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition of the government.

But these rights weren’t originally a part of the Constitution. After pressure from several states, the First Congress in 1789 voted to include them to help ensure that the document that defines how the United States is governed includes protections for individuals and limits on the federal government’s power. Get a closer look at the origins of the Bill of Rights with these facts.

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On Dec. 15, 1791, Virginia became the 11th state to ratify the Bill of Rights, making it part of the Constitution.

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In 1939, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Georgia formally ratified the Bill of Rights, in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of its passage.

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George Mason was the biggest advocate for a bill of rights out of all delegates at the Constitutional Convention. The delegate from Virginia thought individual freedoms should be included in the original Constitution.

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12 amendments were approved by Congress in 1789; the states ratified only 10 by the end of 1791.

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3 delegates at the Constitutional Convention — George Mason, Edmund Randolph and Elbridge Gerry, refused to sign the Constitution because it lacked protections for individual rights.

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In 1992, one of the two remaining originally proposed amendments were ratified by three-quarters of the states and added to the Constitution as the 27th Amendment — 203 years later.

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3 states did not ratify the Bill of Rights by 1792. Since three-quarters of the states had already ratified it, it was unnecessary for Connecticut, Georgia and Massachusetts to do so.

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James Madison, the principal author, originally opposed including the bill of rights, but later supported adding explicit protections for individual liberty and limits on the power of the federal government.

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11 states, or three-quarters majority, are needed to ratify these amendments for them to become law.

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The 15th of December 1941, was officially named Bill of Rights Day by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in honor of the 150th anniversary of its addition to the Constitution.