 Constitutional
Facts
Check
back for the next “Constitutional Facts” from
Tea Party Patriots of
Central Pennsylvania.
FASCINATING
FACTS ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION
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Of the spelling errors
in the Constitution, “Pensylvania” above the signers’ names is
probably the most glaring.
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Although Benjamin
Franklin’s mind remained active, his body was deteriorating. He
was in constant pain because of gout and having a stone in his
bladder, and he could barely walk. He would enter the convention
hall in a sedan chair carried by four prisoners from the Walnut
Street jail in Philadelphia.
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From 1804 to 1865
there were no amendments added to the Constitution until the end
of the Civil War when the Thirteenth amendment was added that
abolished slavery. This was the longest period in American history
in which there were no changes to our Constitution.
-
The national
government spent $4.3 million during the first session of Congress
from 1789-1791. During the last year that George Washington was
President of the United States (1796-1797), the entire cost of
running the federal government was $5,727,000.
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Of the fifty-five
delegates who attended the convention 34 were lawyers, 8 had
signed the Declaration of Independence, and almost half were
Revolutionary War veterans. The remaining members were planters,
educators, ministers, physicians, financiers, judges and
merchants. About a quarter of them were large land owners and all
of them held some type of public office (39 were former
Congressmen and 8 were present or past governors).
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Although the United
States Treasury Department stopped distributing currency
denominations of $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 in 1969, for all
intents and purposes the production of each stopped after World
War II. However, these notes are still legal tender and may be
found on rare occasions in circulation. James Madison, the “Father
of the Constitution” is on the $5,000 bill.
These fascinating facts were reprinted with
permission from
ConstitutionFacts.com
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