Constitution Day
Constitution Day and Citizenship Day is an American federal observance recognizing the adoption of the United States Constitution and those who have become U.S. citizens by birth or naturalization. It is normally observed on September 17, the day the U.S. Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution in 1787 in Philadelphia.
The United States Constitution has acquired almost scriptural significance in American life, and like most holy texts its meaning is constantly contested. Right and Left alike claim to be its guardian. Who can forget Khizr Khan, the Pakistani American whose son, a U.S. Army captain, had been killed in the Iraq War, pulling a copy of the Constitution from his pocket in the course of his speech to the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
In the midst of this election season it’s worthwhile emphasizing that the rights the Constitution enshrines are best secured by a vigorous exercise of them. As Justice Louis Brandeis observed in Whitney v. California, “the greatest menace to freedom is an inert people.” The responsibilities of citizenship begin with the right to cast a ballot.
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Learn more about the U.S. Constitution and its contents, the Constitutional Convention, and U.S. history through the links below: