Week marks Constitution celebration

American colonists fought, sacrificed, and died to establish and preserve the freedoms now guaranteed to us by the Constitution of the United States.

The Jonathan Hardin Chapter of NSDAR will be celebrating Constitution Week from Sept. 17-23. This commemorates the signing of the Constitution of the United States 233 years ago.

Constitution Week began in 1955 under then-President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Gertrude S. Caraway. She adopted a project to promote the observance of the U.S. Constitution with a memorial week beginning on the anniversary of the signing of the document, Sept. 17. She asked DAR chapters to study, teach, and discuss the U.S. Constitution. Caraway also encouraged members to invite governors, mayors, and county judges to issue proclamations celebrating the Constitution. The week was officially declared by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on Aug. 2, 1956.

The U.S. Constitution is the oldest constitution still in active use in the world today, and is the basic document of our republic, which protects the individual liberties of all citizens through written law. Our Constitution has also been used by many other countries as a model for drafting their own constitution.

These, words, written in 1787, are the Preamble to our Constitution:

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, 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.”

This Constitution Week, Sept. 17-23, celebrates the signing of this important document. The NSDAR notes that the document should let us resolve to be better-informed and responsible citizens, and asks to take time to read the Constitution.