The ratification process went relatively smoothly for a couple months after that, with five state conventions approving ratification with little difficulty. Only a month after the Constitution was printed and distributed, the first ratifying convention took place in Pennsylvania. Read more about the original Constitution in our First Amendment library > Despite this argument, the absence of a Bill of Rights was incredibly unpopular and nearly cost it its ratification. They argued that by including a Bill of Rights, which seemed to imply such a Bill was necessary, the Constitution might taken as implying that the Congress had more power than it did. According to the Federalist Framers of the Constitution, explicit provisions for such freedoms as speech and the press were unnecessary, since the Constitution granted only certain narrow powers to Congress. The original Constitution of the United States proposed for ratification by the Federal Convention of 1787 lacked any explicit reference to freedom of speech or of the press. Read more about the Declaration in our First Amendment Library > This articulation of a classical liberal conception of government, based on equality and natural rights, would serve as the moral foundation of the United States’ Constitution. This declaration justified the colonies’ rebellion by stating “self-evident” “truths” about the purpose and foundation of government and by explaining how the British government had consistently failed to meet the standards of those truths. In July of the following year, this Congress issued a declaration of the colonies’ independence from Great Britain. When the tension between the colonists and the British crown came to a head with a violent confrontation between British soldiers and the Massachusetts militia in April of 1775, American leaders from the thirteen colonies convened a Continental Congress to organize an army to fight for their independence. Browse these resources or jump from section to section by clicking the links below: A number of JMC fellows have written about this document’s importance and the ways in which it has contributed to our nation’s political identity.īelow is a collection of resources exploring the Declaration of Independence, its history, and its political and theoretical legacy.
In recognition of Independence Day, the Jack Miller Center presents the following collection of resources about the Declaration of Independence, its history and its political and theoretical legacy. Here in Philadelphia, we symbolically tap the Liberty Bell thirteen times each year to remember the hard-won success of the original thirteen colonies. The celebration continued as an annual event in Philadelphia and soon became widespread in the new nation.Ĭelebratory activities have not changed much since the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries – like our forefathers, we read the Declaration aloud, hold parades, and shoot off fireworks. Fittingly, the first celebration took place in Philadelphia, site of the Declaration of Independence and home of the Jack Miller Center, in 1776, mere days after the Declaration was signed. I ndependence Day has only been a federal holiday since 1941, but July 4th has been celebrated as our country’s birthday since the eighteenth century.
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