Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Constitution Day

Congress has declared September 17th as Constitution Day. This is a day to commemorate the signing of the United States constitution at the Constitutional Convention convened in Philadelphia to draft a replacement for the Articles of Confederation. Educational institutions must offer an educational program or display on the Constitution. As the 17th is a Saturday this year, the event may be held the week before or after. The Library plans a display, but the American Constitution Society and the Federalist Society are hosting a debate between Prof. Leon Friedman and Prof. Julian Ku during the common hour on Monday, Sept. 19th. Look for the posters for this event, it should be an interesting and fun debate.

The U.S. constitution was signed in 1787, but still had to be ratified by the states. The proposed constitution was extremely controversial and almost was not ratified. It was only by promising a "Bill of Rights" that the populace accepted the document. Amendments 1-10 are the results of that promise.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

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