*“Did You Know …?” At 4 PM on this Day in 1787, the Constitution was Signed*
No, John Adams was not among those men at Philadelphia who signed the original document on September 17, 1787. Both Adams and Thomas Jefferson were abroad, serving as representatives of the United States. However, John Adams had written *A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States of America* (1778) in which he discussed the constitutions that had been adopted by each state after the Continental Congress had declared independence from Great Britain. James Madison, who is often called the Father of the Constitution for his role in the drafting, reportedly drew upon John Adams’ analysis for ideas in framing the federal Constitution. John Adams did write the Massachusetts state constitution of 1780. It contains a key phrase that was the basis for ending slavery in the Commonwealth: “All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights;” On the other hand, judge for yourself whether we are lucky that Adams was abroad when the national Constitution was drafted. Here is John Adams’ phrasing in the Massachusetts constitution: *We, therefore, the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the goodness of the great Legislator of the universe, in affording us, in the course of His providence, an opportunity, deliberately and peaceably, without fraud, violence, or surprise, of entering into an original, explicit, and solemn compact with each other, and of forming a new constitution of civil government for ourselves and posterity; and devoutly imploring His direction in so interesting a design, do agree upon, ordain, and establish the following declaration of rights and frame of government as the constitution of the commonwealth of Massachusetts.* And here is the phrase the Constitutional Convention settled upon in September 1787: *We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.* *Happy Constitution Day!* Donald L. Hafner The Lincoln Historical Society
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