Why is the year 1787 significant

Constitution would begin on March 4, On February 2, , the U. Supreme Court held its first session, marking the date when the government was fully operative.

Rhode Island, the last holdout of the original 13 states, finally ratified the Constitution on May 29, In , Madison, then a member of the newly established U. House of Representatives , introduced 19 amendments to the Constitution. On September 25, , Congress adopted 12 of the amendments and sent them to the states for ratification.

Ten of these amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights , were ratified and became part of the Constitution on December 10, The Bill of Rights guarantees individuals certain basic protections as citizens, including freedom of speech, religion and the press; the right to bear and keep arms; the right to peaceably assemble; protection from unreasonable search and seizure; and the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury.

To date, there have been thousands of proposed amendments to the Constitution. The most recent amendment to the Constitution, Article XXVII, which deals with congressional pay raises, was proposed in and ratified in Through all the changes, the Constitution has endured and adapted. Constitution Day is observed on September 17, to commemorate the date the document was signed. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!

Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Even before the U. Constitution was created, its framers understood that it would have to be amended to confront future challenges and adapt and grow alongside the new nation. In creating the amendment process for what would become the permanent U. Constitution, the framers The First Amendment to the U.

Constitution protects the freedom of speech, religion and the press. It also protects the right to peaceful protest and to petition the government. The First Two Senators. September 13, In September of the state of Pennsylvania elected William Maclay and Robert Morris to serve in the newly created United States Senate, the first two senators elected under the new Constitution. The Significance of March 4. March 4, The framers of the Constitution set March 4, , as the date for the first Senate to convene.

The Senate Eight. March 4, On March 4, , eight of the twenty-two new senators overcame difficult late winter travel conditions to reach the nation's temporary capital in New York City, to open business for the new United States Senate. First Doorkeeper.

April 7, When the U. Senate achieved its first quorum on April 6, , one of the first items of business was selecting a "doorkeeper"—a person to guard the Senate's closed sessions from the prying eyes of the public and press. The Senate elected James Mathers to the post on April 7, , and the faithful doorkeeper served until his death in April 8, Help Wanted. Senate seeks experienced public administrator. Samuel Otis met that requirement and became the first Secretary of the Senate.

Elected to the Senate's highest administrative position on April 8, , Otis served until his death in House and Senate Adopt Joint Rules.

April 15, In the House and Senate agreed on seven joint rules to guide action and cooperation between the two houses of Congress, as well as transactions between Congress and the president. Additional rules were added in years to come, but the process of joint rules proved unworkable. In the idea of joint rules was abandoned. The Senate Prepares for a President. April 27, As the Senate prepared for the very first presidential inauguration—George Washington taking the oath of office for the first time—its members were uncertain about protocol, titles, and the role the Senate would play in the new government.

Waiting for the Coach. There, he would take his oath of office on an exterior balcony, in easy view of thousands, and then proceed to the Senate chamber, where he would deliver his inaugural address. May 5, In the early years of the Senate, new members took a simple oath of office, swearing to uphold the Constitution of the United States. The crisis of the Civil War led to the creation of an "Ironclad Test Oath" designed to weed out traitors.

In the relative calm of the post-war years, however, Congress repealed the Test Oath and adopted a simpler form still in use today. Senators Receive Class Assignments. May 15, As required by Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution, in May of the Senate divided its members into three classes for purposes of elections. Every two years, one class—one third of the members—faces election or reelection. Senator Ellsworth's Judiciary Act. Irritating the President. The Northwest Ordinance of , the most important of the three acts, laid the basis for the government of the Northwest Territory and for the admission of its constituent parts as states into the union.

Under this ordinance, each district was to be governed by a governor and judges appointed by Congress until it attained a population of 5, …. The U. It was signed on September 17, , by delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, presided over by George Washington.

The Northwest Ordinance of was a very early federal law passed by Congress in the era of the Articles of Confederation. Included in the opening paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence is perhaps the most important statement of American ideals ever articulated:.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed.

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Those ideas of the equality of mankind; that governments are based on the consent of the governed; that it is the fundamental obligation of a government to serve the needs of the people it governs; and, indeed, that it is the right of the people to abolish a government that does not serve those ends, has formed the basis of American government and society from that time forward.

These state constitutions were bold revolutionary experiments, and in many cases, because they were the first time state political leaders sought to write down the way their governments should function, they were far from perfect. But they were an important step forward in the notion that the purpose of governments was to serve the public interest while at the same time protecting individual liberty.

Moreover, the Articles of Confederation failed to provide for a chief executive capable of giving energy and focus to the new central government. The fifty-five delegates who met in Philadelphia between May 25 and September 17, , would not only reject the Articles of Confederation altogether, but they would produce the first written constitution for any nation in the history of the world. Those gathered in the Assembly Room of the Pennsylvania State House during the summer of faced a formidable task.

Yet somehow, in the space of slightly less than four months, they managed to pull off an extraordinary accomplishment. The Constitution they drafted has been successful for most of U. And it has brought remarkable stability to one of the most tumultuous forms of political activity: popular democracy.

The challenge that all nations in the world have faced not only in drafting a constitution, but also creating a form of government that both provides stability to its nation and sufficient civic responsibility and liberty to its people, is enormous. Indeed, among the more than constitutions presently operating in the world today, few have been as successful in creating that delicate balance between governmental power and personal liberty among the citizens ruled by their government.

The remarkable achievement of the fifty-five men gathered in Philadelphia during the summer of was by no means inevitable. Looking back on their work that summer, we can identify a few factors that enabled them to achieve their success. Certainly among the most important was the quality of leadership among those most committed to strengthening the American government. The ringleader was the thirty-seven-year-old James Madison.