What Is Constitution Day?

The Constitution of the United States is considered to be the foremost piece of legislature with regard to the implementation and authorization of legality and lawfulness within the United States; upon its creation, the Constitution of the United States not only outlined a framework for a legislative system, but also an identifiable statute reflecting the legal guidelines imposed with regard to the relationship between the United States Federal Government and its collective citizens. The Constitution of the United States is comprised of the following components, which are collectively celebrated on Constitution Day; the Constitution of the United States is comprised of:
  •  7 Articles within its text that address the legal process with regard to the establishment of the Constitution, Legislative Power, Executive Power, Judicial Power, Power granted to the States’, Amendment Process, Federal Power, and Ratification
  •  The Bill of Rights, which serve as the classification of the first ten Amendments passed subsequent to the ratification of the Constitution; the Bill of Rights were passed with 15 years of the Constitution’s initial ratification
  • 27 Amendments, which are classified as respective adjustments to the original text of the Constitution that passed as a result of a majority approval on the part of the individual States’; the 27 Amendments also celebrated on Constitution Day include the Bill of Rights – as well as 17 subsequent Constitution Amendments

History of Constitution Day

Public schools in Iowa are credited with first observing a Constitution Day in 1911. The Sons of the American Revolution organization liked the idea and promoted it through a committee that included such notable members as Calvin Coolidge, John D. Rockefeller, and World War I hero General John J. Pershing.

Congress recognized the day as “”Citizenship Day” until 2004, when an amendment by West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd to the Omnibus spending bill of 2004, renamed the holiday “Constitution Day and Citizenship Day.” Sen. Byrd’s amendment also required all government funded schools and federal agencies, provide educational programming on the United States Constitution on the day.

In May 2005, the United States Department of Education announced the enactment of this law and made it clear that it would apply to any school, public or private, receiving federal funds of any kind.

How Was Constitution Day Created?
 
Constitution Day came to pass as a result of the following events:
  • (1911) The state of Iowa began to celebrate Constitution Day
  • (1917) The Sons of the American Revolution, a social brotherhood formed a petition to substantiate Constitution Day as a National Holiday
  • (1939) Newspapers began using Constitution Day as a celebration of the respective citizenship of individuals residing within the United States
  • (1952) The Federal Government proposed that Constitution Day would be renamed ‘Citizenship Day’, yet continue its observance on September 17th – on an annual basis
  • (2004) The passing – and recognition – of Constitution Day as a Federal holiday took place

 

History of ‘CITIZEN’

Before ratification of the Amendment XIV , there was no legal definition of the term “citizen of the United States.” The term was used, but only generally. After the Civil War the slaves were freed but there was no legal basis to recognize them as having any rights. Amendment XIV partially solved that problem.

“Free the slaves,” was the rallying cry combined with the Civil War that resulted in Amendment XIV. Amendment XIV created a new class of person called “citizen of the United States.” Any ex-slave could now claim citizenship, and, by the way, so could any of the People if they so chose to do. Amendment XIV made possible the voluntary relinquishment of personal sovereignty.

It was also during the mid 1800’s that the various governments took control of the school systems. The curriculum shifted from civics (the study of natural rights and common law) to American government (the study of civil privileges and statutory law). Emphasis was also refocused on “good citizenship”. To blunt the people’s perception, the civil privileges were called civil rights. The transition from teaching “natural rights” to teaching “civil rights” took about 100 years (from the 1850’s to the 1950’s). During the 1950’s the school systems changed the courses named from “Civics” to “American Government.” Hardly anyone now is aware of the subject of civics as a school course.

The phrase, “citizens of the United States,” is defined in the Constitution for the United States of America, Amendment XIV.

Read more on the differences between of PEOPLE and CITIZEN HERE.

 

 

This article is part of a larger work at Pilgrim Strategies:  U.S. Constitution