Bicentennial of the Constitution

Report Outline
Special Focus

Overview

Bells pealed from the Christ Church steeple and cannon discharged from the ship Rising Sun, anchored in the Delaware River. Later that July 4th morning of 1788. in the streets of Philadelphia, the Federal Procession began. More than the 12-year-old Declaration of Independence was being celebrated that day. In the preceding months the new constitution had been ratified by Pennsylvania and nine others of the 13 states, enough to give the document life and the fledgling nation hope.

In the procession, a herald on horseback (Benjamin Franklin's son-in-law, Richard Bache) proclaimed the dawn of a new era. A float in the form of a large eagle was drawn by six horses; it bore a framed representation of the Constitution fixed upon a staff, with the cap of Liberty above and the words “The People” in gold letters below. Five-thousand Philadelphians—including more than 300 shoemakers, 100 brickmakers. 150 coach makers, 250 tailor, 125 hatters and 50 printers, booksellers and stationers—marched festively along the three-mile route. When the parade was over, 17,000 people—more than half the city—gathered at Union Green, and that evening, in honor of the festival, the Rising Sun was handsomely illuminate.

A year before, from May to September, the delegates to the Federal Convention had been laboring in the State House in Philadelphia to produce a Constitution that was “adequate to the exigencies of Government, and the preservation of the Union.” Finally, they had brought forth a document that gave Americans new confidence that the promise of the Revolution would actually be fulfilled.