Constitution and Citizenship Day

Jon Bari, president of the Constitutional Walking Tour of Philadelphia, writes:

While most Americans know that July 4 is our country’s birthday, far fewer Americans know that Sept. 17 is the birthday of our nation’s government, the date in 1787 on which delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia completed and signed the Constitution of the United States.

It was not until 2004 that Constitution and Citizenship Day was officially established when the late Robert Byrd, one of the United States Senate’s leading Constitutional scholars, introduced legislation that President George W. Bush signed into law requiring that all schools, colleges and federal agencies receiving federal funds offer annual educational programming involving the Constitution of the United States on Constitution and Citizenship Day, Sept. 17.

• The Defense Department has a page devoted to the day.
• FairVote tells the story of Byrd's advocacy of the law.