What is Constitution Day?
Constitution Day is a federal observance that commemorates the U.S. Constitution. It is observed on September 17, the day the Constitution was signed in 1787.
Constitution Day was established by law in 2004. In addition to creating Constitution Day (on the day that had formerly been known as Citizenship Day), the act requires that any educational institution that receives federal funds to hold an educational program on the Constitution on September 17.
Constitution Week is celebrated annually September 17-23. In addition to meeting the federal requirement pertaining to this day, we would like to take this opportunity to encourage students to pursue the study of the Constitution, the foundation for our way of life.
The purpose of this webpage is to provide you with additional information and resources on the Constitution and what it means to you.
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Resources
Learn more about the U.S. Constitution:
- Archives.gov
- ConstitutionFacts.com
- Coursera course: Introduction to Key Constitutional Concepts and Supreme Court Cases
- History.com
- iTunes U. - The United States Constitution course by the National Archives. You will learn about the Constitutional Convention, drafting and ratifying the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the three branches of our Federal government, and how the National Archives is preserving our Constitution.
- YouTube: The U.S. Constitution at the National Archives
Famous Quotes
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure 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." - Preamble to the Constitution
"Let our government be like that of the solar system. Let the general government be like the sun and the states the planets, repelled yet attracted, and the whole moving regularly and harmoniously in several orbits." - John Dickinson (Delaware Delegate), 1787
"I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such, because I think a central government is necessary for us... I doubt too whether any other Convention we can obtain may be able to make a better Constitution." - Benjamin Franklin, (closing day of the convention in 1787)
"I consider the difference between a system founded on the legislatures only, and one founded on the people, to be the true difference between a league or treaty and a constitution." - James Madison (at the Constitutional Convention, 1787)