A Constitution Day Message
September 17th of each year is celebrated as “Constitution Day” in order to commemorate the signing of the United States’ Constitution in Independence Hall in Philadelphia by 39 delegates.
The Constitution was eventually ratified by all thirteen of the original colonies. Delaware was the first to ratify it on December 7, 1787 and the last to ratify it was Rhode Island on May 29, 1790.
Between September 12, 1790 and November 5, 1790, Samuel Adams and John Adams (cousins) exchanged letters.
John Adams was the first to write to Samuel Adams (and you can still read these letters online) and asked, “What? My old friend is this world about to become?”
The colonies had thrown off the shackles of Great Britain and had emerged as the United States of America. (The United States Constitution had become the official governing document when, on June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the 9th state to ratify it.)
The French Revolution had begun just the year before although it had not yet devolved into the Reign of Terror (which was still several years away).
These four letters (letter 1; letter 2; letter 3; letter 4) between these men are quite interesting to read because put together they reveal an extraordinary debate over Christianity, human nature, education, republican government, the French Revolution, and what they believed was necessary to preserve American liberty.
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