CULLMAN, Ala. – “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, 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.”
That is the preamble to the United States Constitution, the document that embodies our fundamental laws and principles. Today, the U.S. Constitution is the world’s oldest continuously-active codified constitution, having been in effect since 1789!
“It’s important for all Americans to know how our country was created and how our Constitution came to be,” said Cullman Mayor Woody Jacobs. “It’s the basis of our whole way of life in this country.”
The history of the framing of the U.S. Constitution is incredible. On May 25, 1787, the Constitutional Convention opened in Philadelphia. Over the course of the next few months, and through much debate, delegates devised a document establishing our federal government with three equal branches of government and a system of checks and balances among those branches, dividing power between the federal government and the states, and protecting the individual liberties of its citizens. The Constitution was signed 233 years ago Sept. 17, 1787.
To commemorate the 233rd anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, Jacobs officially proclaimed the week of Sept. 17-23, 2020 as CONSTITUTION WEEK in the City of Cullman. Due to COVID-19 precautions, no formal proclamation presentation was held, but the proclamation was forwarded to the Drippings Springs Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).
“I want to thank our local DAR members and other local organizations for doing so much to preserve our history and educate our citizens about the Constitution and about the founding of our country,” said Jacobs. “I am proud to proclaim Constitution Week once again and, as always, I urge everyone to find out more about our Constitution and the story of our country’s founding – it’s truly a remarkable story!”
Constitution Week was started many years ago by the DAR. From dar.org: “In 1955, the Daughters petitioned Congress to set aside September 17-23 annually to be dedicated for the observance of Constitution Week. The resolution was later adopted by the U.S. Congress and signed into Public Law #915 on August 2, 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The aims of the celebration are to (1) emphasize citizens’ responsibilities for protecting and defending the Constitution, preserving it for posterity; (2) inform the people that the Constitution is the basis for America’s great heritage and the foundation for our way of life; and (3) encourage the study of the historical events which led to the framing of the Constitution in September 1787.”
To read the Constitution and other founding documents, or to find out more about the documents’ history, visit archives.gov/founding-docs or constitutionfacts.com, or ask a DAR member. To find out more about the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), visit dar.org.
