Constitution Day
Published: September 17, 2018
The signing of the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787, by delegates to the Constitutional Convention, established America’s national government and fundamental laws. At the 1787 convention delegates formulated a plan for a stronger government establishing three branches – Executive, Legislative and Judicial – along with a system of checks and balances ensuring no single branch would have too much power.
The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation, popularly known as the Constitution Annotated, encompasses the U.S. Constitution and analysis and interpretation of the U.S. Constitution with in-text annotations of cases decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. The Constitution Annotated is available on GovInfo back to the 1992 edition.
H. Doc. 112-129, The Constitution of the United States with Index and the Declaration of Independence, Pocket Edition or “Pocket Constitution” is a pocket-size booklet containing the complete text of these two core documents of American democracy, the Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence. House Document 112-129, the 25th edition, was printed under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing.
Related Resources
- Purchase a printed copy of "Constitution of the United States and Declaration of Independence," as well as related publications, from GPO's online bookstore.
- Research the Constitution Annotated on the Congress.gov website, or download the Library of Congress app, for legal analysis and interpretation of the Constitution.
- Learn more about Observing Constitution Day on the National Archives' website.
Facts about the U.S. Constitution:
- Although written and signed in 1787, it wasn’t until 1788 that it was ratified by the necessary nine of thirteen states to become binding.
- There are 39 signatures on the Constitution. Two of America’s “founding fathers”, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, did not sign the Constitution as they were working as diplomats in France and Great Britain respectively.
- The first ten amendments to the Constitution, known as The Bill of Rights, were added in 1791 describing individual rights.
- The only language besides English used in the Constitution is Latin.
- George Washington and James Madison were the only presidents who signed the Constitution.