Constitution Day: Holiday and History

Celebrate and Honor the Constitution

But what was the best way to keep political authority in the hands of the people? A set of written and laws. The idea that the government's authority is only legitimate when it is in accordance with publicly-disclosed, adopted, written and enforced laws is called Rule of Law. The basic idea behind Rule of Law is that when individuals and the government both adhere to a set of rules rather than to a group of people, authoritarian rule is less likely. This was just another way the framers of the U.S. Constitution found to safeguard individual liberties and rights.

Originally, when the Constitution was submitted for ratification by the states, did not contain a reference to individual rights.
The Bill of Rights, or the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. It is the Bill of Rights that protects freedom of assembly, press, religion and speech, the right to bear arms, and rights protecting those accused of crimes.

Separation of Powers An inherent safeguard of the Constitution to keep government from having too much authority was the creation of three separate branches of government: executive, judicial and legislative. This ensured that the power did not lie solely with one branch. It was Montesquieu who suggested that political power be divided into the current branches we have today. The benefits of this system are that each branch has its own powers and areas of responsibilities, and each can check up on the other branches and limit their powers when appropriate. This is where the idea of checks and balances arose.

Ratification
In addition to the live recitation of the Preamble, a roll call of the 50 states will be called in the order that the stated ratified the Constitution. In some cases a state's order may reflect when it was admitted to the Union. Where will your state fall? Will it be one of the first or one of the last?

Here is the order of ratification:

1 Delaware, Dec 7, 1787

2 Pennsylvania, Dec 12, 1787

3 New Jersey, Dec 18, 1787

4 Georgia, Jan 2, 1788

5 Connecticut, Jan 9, 1788

6 Massachusetts, Feb. 6, 1788

7 Maryland, April 28, 1788

8 South Carolina, May 23, 1788

9 New Hampshire, June 21, 1788

10 Virginia, June 25, 1788

11 New York, July 26, 1788

12 North Carolina, Nov. 21, 1789

13 Rhode Island, May 29, 1790

14 Vermont, May 4, 1791

15 Kentucky, June 1, 1792

16 Tennessee, June 1, 1796

17 Ohio, March 1, 1803

18 Louisiana, April 30, 1812

19 Indiana, Dec 11, 1816

20 Mississippi, Dec 10, 1817

21 Illinois, Dec 3, 1818

22 Alabama, Dec 14, 1819

23 Maine, March 15, 1820

24 Missouri, Aug. 10, 1821

25 Arkansas, June 15, 1836

26 Michigan, Jan 26, 1837

27 Florida, March 3, 1845

28 Texas, Dec 29, 1845

29 Iowa, Dec 28, 1846

30 Wisconsin, May 29, 1848

31 California, Sept. 9, 1850

32 Minnesota, May 11, 1858