Introduction
Here is your guide for research on Constitution Day and the United States Constitution at the Arthur C. Banks Library. Notice the tabs along the top of the screen; select the one that best matches your informational need.
From the Library of Congress Constitution Day website:
The members of the Constitutional Convention signed the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Constitutional Convention convened in response to dissatisfaction with the Articles of Confederation and the need for a strong centralized government. After four months of secret debate and many compromises, the proposed Constitution was submitted to the states for approval. Although the vote was close in some states, the Constitution was eventually ratified and the new Federal government came into existence in 1789. The Constitution established the U.S. government as it exists today.
Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father and Signer of the United States Constitution.
Signers of the United States Constitution. You can find information on the following individuals in the library's biographical databases.
Signers of the United States Constitution
Delaware
- George Reed
- Gunning Bedford Jr.
- John Dickinson
- Richard Bassett
- Jacob Broom
Maryland
- James McHenry
- Thomas Jenifer
- Daniel Carroll
Virginia
- John Blair
- George Mason
- James Madison
- George Washington
North Carolina
- William Blount
- Richard Dobbs Spaight
- Hugh Williamson
South Carolina
- Charles Cotesworth Pickney
- Pierce Butler
- John Rutledge
Georgia
- William Few
- Abraham Baldwin
New Hampshire
- John Langdon
- Nicholas Gilman
Massachusetts
- Nathaniel Gorham
- Rufus King
Connecticut
- Oliver Ellsworth
- Samuel Johnson
- Roger Sherman
New York
- Alexander Hamilton
- William Livingston
New Jersey
- David Brearley
- William Paterson
- Jonathan Dayton
- Pennsylvania
- Benjamin Franklin
- Robert Morris