These
links lead off of our website. Use them at your own risk. The purpose
of Incredible Art Department is to promote art education. If
you find a link that goes to an inappropriate site, please
notify Ken Rohrer immediately.
Constitution Day is September 17
In 2004, Congress declared September 17 in Public Law 108-447
as a day to memorialize the Constitution. The Constitution of the
United States was ratified on September 17, 1787. Originally, this day
was called Citizenship Day. Typical of our legislators, this act
mandates that all publicly funded educational institutions provide some
sort of programming on this day. Any school that is not in compliance
risks losing their federal funding. Of course the government doesn't
provide any funding to schools to "celebrate" this event.
Origins or Our Constitution
Much of the Constitution came from the Five Nations Constitution,
a document created by a group of eastern American Indian tribes called
the Iroquois. The original five nations included the Mohawks, Oneidas,
Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas. Later, when the Tuscaroras Nation
joined the Iroquois, they called it the Six Nations Iroquois
Confederacy. The estimated date of the creation of the document is
August 31, 1142 and was approved in what is now a football field in
Victor, New York.[1] The Senecas, the last of the five nations to ratify the confederacy, called the area Gonandaga.[2] Today this site is called Gonandagan State Historic Site. The Iroquois Nation (or the Haudenosaunee as some call them) was the most instrumental in influencing our Constitution.
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| The arrows clutched by the bald eagle come from the Iroquois Nation. |
Benjamin Franklin
admired the confederacy of the Indian tribes and first mentioned them
in 1751. The bundle of 13 arrows that are clutched by the Bald Eagle on
the Great Seal of the United States of American money is a testament to
the Iroquois Great Law of Peace .
At one point, Charles Thomas, the designer of the Great Seal of the
United States of America, considered reducing the number of arrows to
six, representing the Six Nations (The Iroquois and the five easter
indian tribes). Congress overruled him and came up with 13 to represent
the former colonies.
On
June 11, 1776, the Iroquois chiefs were invited to the Continental
Congress. They spoke of their confederacy and the hope that the new
Americans would "act as one people and have but one heart."[3]
(Of course we now know that their speech failed miserably as most of
the Indian nations were wiped out in the 1800's.) After their speech,
one of the chiefs gave John Hancock the Indian name, Karanduawn, or the
Great Tree.
History of the Constitution
42 of 55 delegates held a meeting (convention) on September 17, 1787 to
sign the Constitution. Up to that point, they held their meetings
almost daily at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. George Washington was the president of the Constitutional Convention.
After the signing, they sent copies to all the states for ratification.
Nine states approved the Constitution on June 21, 1788. The Constitution is only four pages long and is hand-written.
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| The Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States , painted by Howard Chandler Christy in 1940. |
A few facts: Benjamin Franklin was 81 years old at the signing. The youngest was Jonathan Dayton
at 26. The Constitution is the world's oldest written constitution (If
you don't count the Iroquois document). It took some delegates months
to arrive at the convention. There was no public transportation or
automobiles then. Delaware was the first state to ratify the
Constitution while Rhode Island was last. North Carolina initially
voted against it.
One
of the issues to be resolved before the signing was representation from
states versus population. We saw this become a controversy with the
2000 elections. Although the popular vote in some cases went to Al
Gore, the delegates went to George Bush. Even then, the slave issue was
a problem for both the northern and southern states. The compromise was
that slave trade could continue until 1808. Slaves could be counted as
3/5ths of a person for representation.
Bill of Rights :
The Bill of Rights became law on December 15, 1791, three years after
nine states approved the Constitution. The Bill of Rights included 10
amendments and was created because of the high level of interest
regarding individual freedoms during the Constitutional Convention. 17
additional amendments have been passed since the original document
became law. The most recent amendment was ratified on May 2, 1992.
Constitution Day Art lessons described by teachers
Posted by Renee G on 9/13/08
My
kindergarten, first, and second grade students are doing red, white,
and blue collages (torn paper for K & 1st, cut paper for 2nd). For
introductions to the art activity K's will talk about the patterns in
the flag, firsts are having a read aloud (I Pledge Allegiance
by Bill Martin, Jr. - illustrated with torn paper collages), Ks will
tear yellow stars (already traced for them), 1sts will trace and tear
stars, 2nds will cut their own free-form stars.
Posted by Ken Rohrer on 9/17/08
Because the Constitution originated with the Iroquois, why not create Iroquois False Face Masks, sculptures, or other Indian art. One can study the paintings of John Trumbull (especially the signing of the Declaration of Independence) and of Howard Chandler Christy (The Signing of the Constitution). Students could have a calligraphy lesson after viewing the calligraphy of the Constitution. The architecture of Independence Hall could be studied. Students could sculpt the building using anything from cans to sewing redwork designs. The architects, Andrew Hamilton and Edmund Woolley
could be studied along with their other designs. Finally, students can
take a virtual tour of the architecture of Independence Hall using Google Street View.
Posted by Walter F. on 9/18/08
This year my teachers went all out! They even had students dress up and
then during lunch they had a contest for best dressed along with a
competition of who could recite the Constitution--needless to say
everyone was late for fifth period, but the students, parents and
teachers had a great time. In talking with the teachers throughout the
last two weeks about Constitution day we all were surprised at the lack
of knowledge that our 6th and 7th graders had on the Constitution. I
hope that from the activities in and outside of the classroom that our
students learned how important the Constitution is.
Posted by Melanie H. on 9/18/08
We have been celebrating the Constitution all week. On morning
announcements we have had groups of students reciting the Preamble
everyday, the music teachers have done patriotic songs, I read the play
"Shh! We're Writing the Constitution"
with the older students in Drama. It helps that we have a Social
Studies curriculum who made sure Constitution Day was on the master
calendar and arranged for the readings on the morning announcements.
Constitution Day Art Lessons
Constitution Day Art
Constitution Day Links
