CHAPTER 7
“We the People”

The long, hot months of summer passed away. By September, cool breezes blew over Philadelphia rooftops. The important work at the Constitutional Convention was nearly done. For so long, delegates had been hard at work. Now they were restless to go home and rejoin their families.

On September 8, they handed over a draft of the Constitution to a Committee of Style. The committee’s job was to polish the writing and put the whole thing together in readable form.

The committee chose Gouverneur Morris to write the final draft. Morris streamlined the Constitution into seven articles (sections). He untangled confusing sentences and trimmed away unnecessary words. He also changed the very first sentence. The original draft began, “We the people of the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island . . .” It listed every state by name. The new opening simply read:

We the people of the United States . . .

By not naming each separate state, Morris signaled the dawn of a new government—one that answered directly to the people. It was a brilliant touch. The rest of the introduction told why the Constitution was written. Today, the introduction is known as the Preamble.

After just four days, the committee delivered the final draft of the Constitution. Delegates changed a few details. Then the document was sent out to be engrossed on parchment, high-quality thick paper.

On September 17, thirty-nine delegates gathered in the State House one last time. (Some delegates had already been called home. Four had left in protest.) The framers lined up to sign the Constitution, spread out on the front table. George Washington signed first.

As Benjamin Franklin waited his turn, he gazed at a half sun that was carved into the back of George Washington’s chair. All summer long, Franklin had wondered if the sun was rising or setting. Now he said he knew the answer. It was a rising sun, he happily declared.

The new day in America couldn’t dawn just yet, however. The American people had to ratify the Constitution. (Ratify means “approve.”) Only then would it become the law of the land.

Copies of the Constitution were sent out to all thirteen states. Newspapers printed every word. Soon the nation was abuzz with talk about government. Every class of people debated: frontiersmen, farmers, shopkeepers, landowners, and bankers. Citizens spoke their minds at town meetings and churches. They wrote editorials, pamphlets, and songs. Historians say it was the greatest outpouring of political thinking in western history.

Americans split into two groups, pro and con. Meanwhile, a series of articles in favor of the Constitution began showing up in New York newspapers. They were written under the pen name Publius. The “mystery writer” was really three people: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. Their eighty-five essays are now known as the Federalist Papers.

The Federalist Papers calmed people’s worries of an all-powerful government. They pointed out the safeguards planted in the Constitution—the system of checks and balances. If Congress passed bad laws, the president could veto them. If a president overstepped his powers, the Supreme Court could rule his acts “unconstitutional” and make him stop.

One by one, states called special conventions to ratify the Constitution—or not. Nine of the thirteen states had to approve the Constitution for it to become law. And on June 21, it happened. New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution! Five days later, Virginia, the largest state, ratified, too! “It is done. We have become a nation,” declared Benjamin Rush, who had been a signer of the Declaration of Independence. America had a new government—one that is now almost 250 years old. The bold experiment worked!

In time, all of the thirteen states ratified the Constitution—even those who had voted “no” at first. (Rhode Island, which had refused to send delegates to the Constitution, was the last to ratify, in May 1790.)

July Fourth was just two weeks away. The joyous city of Philadelphia got ready for a big-time celebration.

On Independence Day, 1788, the first cannon fired at sunrise in Philadelphia. Thousands of people began pouring into the city center to celebrate the brand-new Constitution of the United States. At 9:30 a.m., a parade set off. A float with a towering blue eagle was followed by a giant framed Constitution. Next came ten white horses pulling a fancy dome on thirteen columns, one for each state.

Then came citizens from all walks of life. There were 200 metalworkers, 300 rope makers, and 450 carpenters. There were women spinning cloth, smithies making nails. Lawyers, soldiers, boat pilots, painters, porters, bricklayers, tailors, coopers, saddlers, candle makers, butchers, and stonecutters. On and on they came.

The day ended with a picnic for seventeen thousand! What a celebration for “we the people of the United States.”