Did you know President Eisenhower designated Sept. 17-23 as Constitution Week, urging every citizen to learn more about our founding document every September? To assist Villagers in this civic endeavor, here are questions for community consideration.
1. Why doesn’t the Constitution, our government’s bedrock, contain the word “national”? ANSWER: “National” was such a hot-button term at the time that it was crossed out at the last moment by delegates at the Constitutional Convention.
2. Can you imagine why John Adams insisted the chief executive’s title be “His Most Benign Highness” or “His Highness”? ANSWER: Adams considered the term “President” too vague and said it could mean the president of a fire company.
3. During the convention George Washington sat in a chair with a sun carved in the headrest. Was it rising or setting? ANSWER: As Benjamin Franklin signed the completed Constitution, he exclaimed that the rising sun foretold future prosperity for the United States.
These facts are from the children’s history book “Shh! We’re Writing the Constitution” which John Bartram DAR Chapter donates to local elementary schools in fulfilling its educational, historical and patriotic objectives.Â
Villager Carole Ann Peskin is Organizing Regent of the John Bartram Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution.
