On this day in 1755, Tench Coxe is born in Philadelphia. Was he a Patriot or a Loyalist? People weren’t so sure at first. But he rehabilitated himself—or at ...

On this day in 1788, Maryland becomes the seventh state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. The state was home to Luther Martin and John Mercer, both of whom ha...

On this day in 1913, the 17th Amendment is ratified. For the first time in American history, voters would be able to directly elect their United States Senat...

On this day in 1788, a legislative committee in Rhode Island reports that the United States Constitution had been rejected by the state. Rhode Island emphati...

On this day in 1788, Massachusetts becomes the sixth state to ratify the Constitution. It was a close call, though. The state had nearly rejected the Constit...

On this day in 1752, Gouverneur Morris, author of the Constitution’s Preamble, is born in New York. Morris was well-educated, witty, blunt, and articulate. H...

During this week in 1913, several states ratify the 16th Amendment. A proclamation would soon be issued by the U.S. Secretary of State, officially making the...

On this day in 1790, New Hampshire ratifies eleven amendments to the United States Constitution. These amendments (plus one other) had been submitted to the ...

On this day in 1801, Alexander Hamilton writes a scathing letter about then-presidential candidate Aaron Burr. “[G]reat Ambition unchecked by principle,” Ham...

On this day in 1788, Connecticut becomes the fifth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. The state had come a long way! Just one year earlier, Connecticut ...

On this day in 1787, delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution. Perhaps you’ve heard what Benjamin Franklin did immediately afterwar...

On this day in 1787, the Constitutional Convention draws to a close. The delegates turned to the subject of constitutional amendments. The then-existing draf...

On this day in 1788, New York ratifies the U.S. Constitution. It was the 11th state to join the Union, but the timing of that decision created some interesti...

On this day in 1789, a signer of the Declaration of Independence writes a letter to John Adams. The letter sounds harsh to modern ears. And yet it makes perf...

On this day in 1788, Virginia ratifies the United States Constitution. At the time, many thought that Virginia had provided the critical 9th vote to put the ...

On this day in 1787, the Constitutional Convention finally begins. The meeting had been scheduled to start nearly two weeks earlier, on May 14, but things ha...

On this day in 1787, the Constitutional Convention is scheduled to begin—but nothing happened! The Convention couldn’t get started, because only a handful of...

On this day in 1792, the Coinage Act creates the U.S. Mint and provides for the construction of a new building in Philadelphia. That building was the first f...

On this day in 1791, Virginia ratifies the Bill of Rights, making those ten constitutional amendments the law of the land. The Bill of Rights, of course, inc...

On this day in 1787, Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. You might imagine a bunch of dull Founders tamely approving a doc...