1. Welcome to Day #12 Today we are going to talk about Constitution Day

2. Constitution Day What is it? On this day in 1787, thirty-nine of the original fifty-five delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the document that would eventually be ratified and enshrined as our fundamental law.

3. Constitution Day In 2004, the Federal Legislature named this date as the day we honor and learn about the Constitution of the United States. Of course, you also learn about the Constitution in 8 th grade U.S. History classes.

4. * George Washington * Benjamin Franklin * Thomas Jefferson * Alexander Hamilton * James Madison * John Langdon * Nicholas Gilman * Nathaniel Gorham * Rufus King * William Samuel Johnson * Roger Sherman * William Livingston * David Brearly * William Paterson * Jonathan Dayton * Thomas Miflin * Robert Morris * George Clymer * Thomas Fitzsimons …and more.

5. 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.

6. True or False? * George Washington enjoyed playing cards, hunting, fishing, dancing and watching horse races and rooster fights. True True * George Washington became President before all of the original 13 states had ratified the new Constitution. True True * George Washington worked as a surveyor when he was a teenager. True True

7. True or False? * Benjamin Franklin wanted America to have a king, not a president. False False * Benjamin Franklin helped establish libraries, hospitals, insurance companies, volunteer fire departments, agricultural colleges and intellectual societies. True True

8. True or False? * Thomas Jefferson invented a pasta machine. True * Thomas Jefferson purchased a lot of land in the United States from Napoleon Bonaparte, the Emperor of France. True

9. Facts about the Constitution… * It was written in Pennsylvania. * It was prepared in secret, behind locked and guarded doors. * The first Thanksgiving Day was originally created by George Washington as a way of “giving thanks” for the Constitution. * Of the written national constitutions, ours is the oldest, and shortest.

10. Facts about the Constitution… * Benjamin Franklin was the oldest person at the Constitutional Convention. He was 81 years old. * Jonathon Dayton was the youngest person. He was 26 years old. * More than 11,000 amendments have been introduced in Congress. Only 27 have actually received approval from the states to be added to the Constitution.

11. The Constitution of the United States of America …is one of the most influential legal documents in existence. Since its creation some two hundred years ago, over one hundred countries around the world have used it as a model for their own.

12. One of the ways we recognize our nation’s leadership in the world is when we recite the pledge of allegiance or sing a patriotic song to begin each school day. We do it because there are citizens of our nation all over the world who volunteer to protect our country and our freedom.