Did you know?
Neither John Adams nor Thomas Jefferson was at the Constitutional Convention.
The words "All Men are Created Equal," are not in the Constitution. They are in the Declaration of Independence written eleven years before.
The first three words of the Constitution are, "We the People"
Benjamin Franklin, 81, was the oldest delegate to the Constitutional Convention; Jonathan Dayton, 26, was the youngest.
The Constitution was "penned" by Jacob Shallus, A Pennsylvania General Assembly clerk, for $30 ($1,027 today).
At the time of the Constitutional Convention Philadelphia was the most modern city in America and the largest city in North America. It had a population of 40,000 people, 7,000 street lamps, 33 churches, 10 newspapers, and a university.
Of the spelling errors in the Constitution, PENSYLVANIA above the signers’ names is probably the most glaring because today, Pennsylvania is spelled with two Ns; in 1781, the spelling with one N is also correct.
Ours is the oldest written constitution in the world. And it's probably the third most quoted document in history - after the Bible and Shakespeare.
James Madison was adamant that representation in both the House and Senate should be based on population. He was furious when the little states objected, and even more furious when some of his Virginia colleagues sided with the little states. Even as late as August 1787 (after four months of debate) Madison refused to believe that Delaware should have the same number of senators as Virginia. In hindsight, we probably should have listened to Madison. Had his plan been implemented California would have 10 or so senators and the Dakotas would have 1 each.
