Constitution of the United States |
Declaration of Independence
Emancipation Proclamation |
Gettysburg Address
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Pledge of Allegiance
Constitution of the United States
On September 17, 1787, in the twelfth year of our independence, the Preamble and seven articles of the Constitution were approved signed by thirty-nine (39) representatives from thirteen (13) states. The first seven articles, in order, deal with the Legesilative Branch, the Presidency, the Judiciary, the States, the Amendment Process, the Legal Status of the Constitution, and Ratification.
There have been twenty-seven (27) amendments to the constitution. The first ten (10) admendments were ratified in 1791 and are called the Bill of Rights. The twenty-seventh amendment was approved in 1992. Six amendments have not been ratified.
Article I |
Article II |
Articles III-IV |
Articles V-VII |
Bill of Rights
Amendments XI-XX |
Amendments XXI-XVII |
Amendments not Ratified
The Declaration of Indenpendence was adopted on July 4, 1776. Most of the delicates signed it on August 2nd of that year. Everyone is familiar with John Hancock's, president of the Continental Congress, signature. However, most people do not know that Thomas McKean from Delaware was the last person to sign the document in 1781.
The committee assigned to write the document included Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman.
The following are the people who signed the document. In the first column from Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton.
In the second column from North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn and from South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton.
In the third column from Massachusetts: John Hancock and Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton and from Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton.
In the fourth column from Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross and from Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean.
In the fifth column from New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris and from New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark.
In the final column from New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple and from Massachusetts: Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry and from Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery and from Connecticut: Roger Sherman Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott and from New Hampshire: Matthew Thornton.
The Emancipation Proclamation was issued on September 22, 1862. This was the a second version of the proclamation. The preliminary version was read on July 22, 1862 to President's cabinet. The Proclamation only freed slaves in states that were still fighting against the Union Army. States of the Union and those brought under control of the Union were still allowed to have slaves.
Most people think that Lincoln's objective for the war was to free slaves. However, most evidence points to him wanting to keep the Union together as his first priority.
The Gettysburg Address was delivered by President Abraham Lincoln on November 19,1963 in the midst of the Civil War. He made the speech at the dedication of cemetary in Gettysburg, PA. As with most presidents' speeches it went through several revisions.
The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States originated on Columbus Day, 1892. The original pledge was published in the Sept. 8, 1892, issue of The Youth's Companion in Boston. It contained no reference to Almighty God, until in New York City on April 22, 1951. The authorship was in dispute between James B. Upham and Francis Bellamy of the magazine's staff. In 1939, after a study of the controversy, the United States Flag Association decided that authorship be credited to Francis Bellamy. How did the words "UNDER GOD" come to be added to the Pledge of Allegiance?
