The Constitution of the United States  Charters of Freedom - The Constitution of the United States   In order to revise the Articles of Confederation, a Federal Convention convened in the State House, later renamed Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 14, 1787. The Conventions of a number of the States wanted further declaratory and restrictive clauses to be added to the Constitution in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers. Because there were delegations from only two states, this Convention could only happen on May 25, when a quorum of seven states was obtained. During the months that followed, 55 delegates discussed and debated to amend the Articles of Confederation, the first written Constitution of the U.S. However, they came to the conclusion that rather than amend the articles of the new Constitution, the Convention should redraft them all and in its final form, the new Constitution of the United States was substantially rewritten. On September 17, 1787, the document was finally signed and sent to Congress. By June 21, 1788, conventions in nine states approved the ratified Constitution. March 4, 1789, was set as the day the new Constitution would take effect. Twenty-seven amendments have been added to the Constitution since 1789. The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were adopted as a unit on December 15, 1791. The Constitution defines the fundamental law of the United States federal government. It is the oldest written national constitution currently in effect. Through the efforts and work of many delegates, the Constitution "stands as a model of cooperative statesmanship and the art of compromise". It is the establishment of a government by and for all Americans.   The Constitution of the United States   [ Click here to read the articles of the Constitution ]   Click below if you have clicked on the Fourth of July tour on the main page. | Continue the Fourth of July Tour |   ~ Graphics by Melanie ~ Irene ~ ShannaLeah ~ Please, notice that Melanie's site is not online anymore. Midi "Battle Hym of the Replublic", from Laura's Midi Heaven. [ Site Index ] [ Home ] | Back to the Fourth of July Menu | This page was created on: June 26th 2001. Last updated on: July 4th 2003. Nothing in this site is Public Domain. Graphics are copyrighted by various artists and are used with permission. Please, click on the links above to visit the sites were you can download the graphics from. Do NOT save anything from my pages, please.