Our Supreme Law

Sept. 17 is Constitution Day. It was on that day that the delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the document in 1787.

Some schools will celebrate with a whole week of activities. The Mini Page gets started with a “spellbinding” tribute.

C is for Constitution. It is a set of basic laws, organizing, granting and limiting the powers of our government. It is something we all share.

O is for Original. The document has:

• a preamble

• seven articles, or sections

N is for New Hampshire, the ninth state to ratify, or approve, the Constitution.

S is for Signers.

Thirty-nine delegates signed. Fifty-five delegates attended.

Some, like George Mason, did not sign and insisted that the Bill of Rights be added.

T is for The Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution.

I is for Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where the delegates met to write the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

T is for Twenty-seven, the total number of amendments, or additions, to the Constitution.

U is for United States. In the words of the Preamble:

“We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

T is for Three branches of government.

• The Legislative branch is Congress.

• The Executive branch is headed by the president.

• The Judicial branch is headed by the Supreme Court.

I is for Important Ideas, such as separation of powers, checks and balances and enumerated powers.

O is for Ours. When our Constitution was first created in 1787, our country had 13 states and 4 million people. Today we have 50 states and more than 300 million people.

N is for National Archives. The Constitution is on display at this building in Washington, D.C.