The Constitution of the United States serves as a framework for the nation’s legal and political culture. A historic, revolutionary document, it fleshes out the organization of America’s executive, legislative and judiciary branches, as well as particular rights and laws. The Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787 by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Today, it is the oldest charter of supreme law in continuous use, lending its unwavering influence to international figures and governments. And its preamble continues to ignite passion and vision that is repeated in the nation’s courts, classrooms and popular culture: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, 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.”
About The Authors:
Many men contributed-both directly and indirectly-to the composition of The Constitution. When twelve of the thirteen states sent delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation, the attendees of the convention worked together to produce the final draft of the document. Though James Madison is credited for much of the framing of the text, many others worked to create it, including John Dickinson, Gouverneur Morris, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Thomas Paine, Edmund Randolph, Roger Sherman, James Wilson and George Wythe.
