articles of the constitution presentation

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Articles of the constitution.

In 1787, the Continental Congress called for the drafting of a new constitution, which became the U.S. Constitution containing 7 articles.

The articles of the constitution were written at the beginning of the nation’s establishment and serves as a magnificently drafted blueprint for government.

Table of Contents

What are the seven articles of the constitution?

The United States Constitution comprises seven articles detailing the framework of the federal government of the United States of America. The Constitution outlines the three branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial) and their respective powers and responsibilities.

It also establishes the system of federalism, outlines the process for amending the Constitution, and outlines the protection of individual rights, such as freedom of speech, religion, and the press.

The United States Constitution contains 27 amendments, which are additions or changes to the original article text. The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and protect the rights of citizens. 

Original copies of the US Constitution and the 27 Amendments are held at the National Archives.

Here is an overview of what is covered in each of the seven articles signed on September 17, 1787, and ratified on June 21, 1788.

Article I of the Constitution  covers the legislative branch. The principal mission of this branch is to make laws. Congress is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Congress is the body that shall draft and pass laws, borrow money for the United States, declare war, and raise a military. 

It also works by limiting and balancing the power of the other two federal branches that make up the government – the judicial and the executive branches.

Article 1 establishes that the Vice-President shall be the President of the summit.

The 1st article was affected by the 1st amendment, 4th amendment, 15th amendment, 19th amendment, and 26th amendment.

Article II explains the executive branch. The branch of the government, known as the executive branch, shall manage the daily operations of the government. 

Article 2 outlines the process for choosing the President and the Vice-President.

Using various departments and agencies, such as the Department of the Treasury, the executive branch is probably one of the fastest-moving branches of the federal government.

While made up of multiple divisions, each department is headed by its secretary, who reports to the President of the United States.

Article III  reviews the judicial branch. The federal court system is part of the judicial branch. Article III states that the final court is the US Supreme Court.

Working with Congress, the United States Supreme Court can determine the size and scope of any courts below the Supreme Court.

All judges on this court are appointed for life unless they decide to resign or are charged with bad behavior. If a judge is impeached, they can only be removed in the wake of a trial and a two-thirds major­ity vote of the Senate.

Article IV  is related to the rights and roles of state government. The federal government guarantees a  republic form of government  in each state, protects the entire nation from violence, and determines how any new states can join the Union.

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It also states that the states are equal and should have mutual respect for each other’s laws and any judicial decisions made by the state court systems.

Article IV overviews the states’ rights, the relationship of the federal government to the state government, and the states’ relationship with each other.

The 13th amendment made changes to article 4 of the constitution.

Article V of the constitution  creates a mechanism for changes to the constitution. While the constitution can never be dissolved, it can be amended if it goes through the amendment process.

The states and Congress can initiate the process of amending the United States Constitution . Since the constitution was written, there have been multiple amendments made. 

These amendments are usually warranted when problems or concerns develop which were not foreseen or addressed by the original constitution.

Article VI  reviews debts, supremacy, and oaths. The article determines that the constitution and all of the laws that come from it serve as the supreme law of the land.

All officials in the United States are required to swear an oath that they will uphold the constitution. 

This article is designed to ensure that the United States Constitution remains a document held in high regard and used to make the primary decisions for the nation.

Article VII details that only nine of the original 13 states were required to approve the document for ratifying the United States Constitution.

While the number of states has grown since the constitution was signed, their signatures verify who signed the original document and that all interested parties witnessed it. 

This does not guide the future of the national government but serves as a statement that it was agreed upon by the required number of colonies.

Understanding the Seven Articles of the US Constitution

These seven articles may appear fairly broad, but their function serves as a framework for the United States.

The constitution provides and limits power and outlines a  system of checks and balances  to avoid any branch having too much power. This is an important function and remains an active document today.

Famous Signatories of the United States Constitution

Famous signatories of the United States Constitution include:

• George Washington
• James Madison
• Benjamin Franklin
• Alexander Hamilton
• and Gouverneur Morris.

Interestingly, Founding Fathers Thomas Jefferson and John Adams did not sign the constitution. Both men were on diplomatic missions in Europe when the document was signed at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

Edward Savey

16 responses.

maybe someone can get this information to the congress they dont seem to know any of this valuable information . they must had taken their oathes in pig latin and did not understand it.

Yep, they have trashed the Constitution, especially one whole party. If the politicians obeyed it, our nation would heal and be a Constitutional Republic once again. Moreover, we may actually have a free society once again with prosperity.

Just curious: Which party is that, Glenn?

Snort snort…

Ii once handed a pocket Constitution to a United States Congressman and asked him to pass it on to Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Have you watched the recent hearing for SCOTUS nominees? I don’t think the Judicial is much better.

on my ballot in NH there is a question I don’t understand. Are you in favor of ammending articles 71 and 81 of the constitution about county treasurers, county attorneys, sheriffs and registers of deeds elected? also, judges not to act as counsel? What does this all mean?

next question Shall there be a convention to ammend the constitution. Does there need to be a convention to change the gun laws? Right to have arms?

That’s regarding the NH STATE Constitution. Each state also has its own constitution.

Gina, that’s the State Constitution. You have the Constitution that established the United States and each State has their constitution. That was one of the first things that they taught us in Civics class my freshman year of high school. But, I was fortunate that my Grandfather taught me that when I was five and an ignorant hillbilly boy from West Virginia.

The question is changing your state constitution, not the constitution of the United States.

I am scared to say, a (don’t want to call what we have these days-‘judges.’ More like determiners. But one sitting on the highest court, in Washington, could not describe what the 2nd or 5th Article of the Constitution was about. Or, what the word ‘purposevism’ means. Now they are being selected to sit on the highest court in the country. EMBARRASSING.

I just watched a recap of that on Fox News. I realize that stating it was on Fox News now makes whatever I say next suspect to some. Sad. Really embarrassing. And Sad. For America and for that judicial candidate. But she should have known, much like a pilot should know what a certain cockpit switch is and does, a plumber should know the procedure to change out a toilet and a heart surgeon should know how to repair a heart. She is only being chosen by the Biden Administration because of what she is, not her level of competence. Really sad.

Speaking of the federal court nominees, if they can’t memorize the seven articles, how could they possibly remember ten commandments?

My ancestors came to the USA from Germany. They arrived here about 150 years ago. My surname family from Germany took a detour for about 4 generations through Russia…. Volga Germans .

Now in my mid 70’s I am witnessing the destruction of the USA by its own citizens. Our schools are no longer schools . They have become indoctrination centers. Teachers are deciding if a first grader should be a boy or a girl . The seeds of hate are being sown in every mind in our public schools.

A democratic republic can only exist and endure with a well informed voter population. Well informed with facts , not propaganda.

Now I am not highly educated. I only spent 7 years in university education… Chemical Engineering and Electrical engineering. I graduated 50 years ago. About 35 years ago I thought learning Spanish would be a good idea. I studied for months in language schools in Mexico, and Ecuador. As well as university level courses here in USA. I am thinking now that I should have learned Chinese. My German is not too good . My Spanish is not too bad.

Our nation is in trouble. This fact should be recognizable by even the most casual observer. Ignorance is the foundation of destruction. “Woke” is the scepter of Satan.

Slavery and poverty for the masses, with power and control by the elite is the goal of the satan worshipers.

Our constitution is the only vehicle we have for survival. We should study it and live by it.

Glad I will be dead in a few years.

Article 5 of the Constitution allows a majority of states to call a “Conference of States” which would override what is happening in Washington. This is to protect the Federation of States from being overwritten by an overly powerful centralized government located in Washington. The founding fathers foresaw that a centralized government would probably want to continually consolidate their powers over the union and this is what has happened. We need to peel back the powers which have been established in Washington and restore the powers of the States.

It is evident that one of the two major US political parties has distain for our US Constitution.

The House and Senate have BEEN too Partisan for over 100 years! They DO NOT work for America and her Citizens, Senators and Representatives are on the DOLE and do not honor their office. BTW elections aren’t solving the issues. Most of these people shouldn’t be allowed to push a broom. We need TERM LIMITS BADLY, and NO LIFE TIME RETIREMENTS after leaving the office.

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America's Founding Documents

The Constitution: How Did it Happen?

Concern about the articles of confederation.

Just a few years after the Revolutionary War, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington feared their young country was on the brink of collapse. America’s first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, gave the Confederation Congress the power to make rules and request funds from the states, but it had no enforcement powers, couldn’t regulate commerce, or print money. The states’ disputes over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade threatened to tear the young country apart. Alexander Hamilton helped convince Congress to organize a Grand Convention of state delegates to work on revising the Articles of Confederation.

Washington as Statesman at the Constitutional Convention, 1856

Oil on canvas by Junius Brutus Steams. Courtesy of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

The Constitutional Convention

The Constitutional Convention assembled in Philadelphia in May of 1787. The delegates shuttered the windows of the State House and swore secrecy so they could speak freely. Although they had gathered to revise the Articles of Confederation, by mid-June they had decided to completely redesign the government. There was little agreement about what form it would take.

One of the fiercest arguments was over congressional representation—should it be based on population or divided equally among the states? The framers compromised by giving each state one representative for every 30,000 people in the House of Representatives and two representatives in the Senate. They agreed to count enslaved Africans as three-fifths of a person. Slavery itself was a thorny question that threatened to derail the Union. It was temporarily resolved when the delegates agreed that the slave trade could continue until 1808.

Writing the Constitution

After three hot summer months of equally heated debate, the delegates appointed a Committee of Detail to put its decisions in writing. Near the end of the convention, a Committee of Style and Arrangement kneaded it into its final form, condensing 23 articles into seven in less than four days.

On September 17, 1787, 38 delegates signed the Constitution. George Reed signed for John Dickinson of Delaware, who was absent, bringing the total number of signatures to 39. It was an extraordinary achievement. Tasked with revising the existing government, the delegates came up with a completely new one. Wary about centralized power and loyal to their states, they created a powerful central government. Representing wildly different interests and views, they crafted compromises. It stands today as one of the longest-lived and most emulated constitutions in the world.

Ratification

The founders set the terms for ratifying the Constitution. They bypassed the state legislatures, reasoning that their members would be reluctant to give up power to a national government. Instead, they called for special ratifying conventions in each state. Ratification by 9 of the 13 states enacted the new government. But at the time, only 6 of 13 states reported a pro-Constitution majority.

The Federalists, who believed that a strong central government was necessary to face the nation’s challenges, needed to convert at least three states. The Anti-Federalists fought hard against the Constitution because it created a powerful central government that reminded them of the one they had just overthrown, and it lacked a bill of rights.

The ratification campaign was a nail-biter. The tide turned in Massachusetts, where the “vote now, amend later” compromise helped secure victory in that state and eventually in the final holdouts.

What Does it Say? How Was it Made?

Articles of the Constitution

Apr 02, 2019

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Articles of the Constitution. Jigsaw Activity. Directions. You and you group partners will be assigned one or more articles of the Constitution. You are to read your article and understand and get comfortable with the information.

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Presentation Transcript

Articles of the Constitution Jigsaw Activity

Directions • You and you group partners will be assigned one or more articles of the Constitution. • You are to read your article and understand and get comfortable with the information. • You are to make no more then two powerpoint slides to teach your fellow classmates about your article that you were assigned. (You should use charts, pictures, whatever to dress your slides up). • When you are done you have to be able to answer the questions that go with your article. You will have to upload your PP slides to schoology and ready to present on Monday 9/23. • U.S. Constitution- http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html

Article 1: The Legislature (Congress) • What are the three basic qualifications if you want to be a representative of any state? What are the three basic qualifications to be a senator (see Section 2 and 3)? • After considering colonists’ reaction to British taxes and after reviewing both the length of the term of a member of the House of Representatives as well as the way in which they are elected (see Section 2), explain why all bills to raise revenue (taxes) must originate in the House of Representatives rather than the Senate. • Summarize how both houses are involved with lawmaking. How can they restrict the lawmaking power of the President? (see Section 7). • After reviewing Section 8, explain what powers Congress has over the nation’s finances AND over its relations with foreign countries. Then explain how these powers limit the power of the president.

Article 2: The Executive • What is the length of a president’s term in office? What are the three qualifications necessary to be eligible for the presidency? (see Section 1) • What powers does the president (the head of the executive branch) have over the military and foreign relations? (see Section 2) • List three other important powers or duties of the president (see Section 2) • What are three checks on presidential power that the Senate has that the House of Representatives does NOT have? (see Section 2 and also Article 1 Section 3)

Articles 3-7: The Judiciary (Judges), Interstate Relations, Amendments and Ratification • How are Supreme Court justices appointed? (See Article 2 Section 2 Paragraph 2). Summarize how this demonstrates the principle of checks and balances. • In what way does Congress control the judicial branch? (see Section 1) • Explain how the process of forming new states (see Article 4 Section 3) and amending the Constitution (see Article 5) both demonstrate the principle of federalism. • What are two parts of Article 6 that illustrate how the national government is supreme to any other level of government? (see Sections 2-3)

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A rare copy of the US Constitution went missing for centuries. Now it’s being auctioned for millions

A rare copy of the U.S. Constitution that was signed and sent to states to ratify is up for auction later this month in North Carolina. The document was found inside a filing cabinet at a property once owned by a former North Carolina governor. (AP video: Jeffrey Collins)

CORRECTS NAME TO BRUNK AUCTIONS - Part of an 1787 copy of the U.S. Constitution that will be put up for auction on Sept. 28, 2024 is shown at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, North Carolina, on Thursday, Sept. 5. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

A 1787 copy of the U.S. Constitution that will be put up for auction on Sept. 28 at Bruck Auctions in Asheville, North Carolina, was found inside this filing cabinet in Edenton, N.C. (Brunk Auctions via AP)

CORRECTS NAME TO BRUNK AUCTIONS - Historian Seth Kaller shows off a 1787 copy of the U.S. Constitution that will be put up for auction on Sept. 28, 2024 at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, N.C., on Thursday, Sept. 5. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

CORRECTS NAME TO BRUNK AUCTIONS - An 1787 copy of the U.S. Constitution that will be put up for auction on Sept. 28, 2024, is shown at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, North Carolina, on Thursday, Sept. 5. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

A 1787 copy of the U.S. Constitution that will be put up for auction on Sept. 28 at Bruck Auctions in Asheville, N.C., is seen in this photo. (Brunk Auctions via AP)

CORRECTS NAME TO BRUNK AUCTIONS - Auctioneer Andrew Brunk, left, and historian Seth Kaller, right show off a 1787 copy of the U.S. Constitution that will be put up for auction on Sept. 28, 2024 at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, N.C., on Thursday, Sept. 5. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

CORRECTS NAME TO BRUNK AUCTIONS -Auctioneer Andrew Brunk talks about a 1787 copy of the U.S. Constitution that will be put up for auction on Sept. 28, 2024 at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, N.C., on Thursday, Sept. 5. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

CORRECTS NAME TO BRUNK AUCTIONS - An 1787 copy of the U.S. Constitution that will be put up for auction on Sept. 28, 2024 is shown at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, N.C., on Thursday, Sept. 5. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

• Copy Link copied

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Historical document appraiser and collector Seth Kaller spreads a broad sheet of paper across a desk. It’s in good enough condition that he can handle it, carefully, with clean, bare hands. There are just a few creases and tiny discolorations, even though it’s just a few weeks shy of 237 years old and has spent who knows how long inside a filing cabinet in North Carolina.

At the top of the first page are familiar words but in regular type instead of the sweeping Gothic script we’re used to seeing: “WE, the People ...”

And the people will get a chance to bid for this copy of the U.S. Constitution — the only of its type thought to be in private hands — at a sale by Brunk Auctions on Sept. 28 in Asheville, North Carolina.

The minimum bid for the auction of $1 million has already been made. There is no minimum price that must be reached.

This copy was printed after the Constitutional Convention finished drafting the proposed framework of the nation’s government in 1787 and sent it to the Congress of the ineffective first American government under the Articles of Confederation, requesting they send it to the states to be ratified by the people.

It’s one of about 100 copies printed by the secretary of that Congress, Charles Thomson. Just eight are known to still exist and the other seven are publicly owned.

Thomson likely signed two copies for each of the original 13 states, essentially certifying them. They were sent to special ratifying conventions, where representatives, all white and male, wrangled for months before accepting the structure of the United States government that continues today.

“This is the point of connection between the government and the people. The Preamble — ‘we the people’ — this is the moment the government is asking the people to empower them,” auctioneer Andrew Brunk said.

What happened to the document up for auction between Thomson’s signature and 2022 isn’t known.

Two years ago, a property was being cleared out in Edenton in eastern North Carolina that was once owned by Samuel Johnston. He was the governor of North Carolina from 1787 to 1789 and he oversaw the state convention during his last year in office that ratified the Constitution.

The copy was found inside a squat, two-drawer metal filing cabinet with a can of stain on top, in a long-neglected room piled high with old chairs and a dusty book case, before the old Johnston house was preserved. The document was a broad sheet that could be folded one time like a book.

“I get calls every week from people who think they have a Declaration of Independence or a Gettysburg Address and most of the time it is just a replica, but every so often something important gets found,” said Kaller , who appraises, buys and sells historic documents.

“This is a whole other level of importance,” he added.

Along with the Constitution on the broad sheet printed front and back is a letter from George Washington asking for ratification. He acknowledged there will have to be compromise and that rights the states enjoyed will have to be given up for the nation’s long-term health.

“To secure all rights of independent sovereignty to each and yet provide for the interest and safety for all — individuals entering into society must give up a share of liberty to preserve the rest,” wrote the man who would become the first U.S. president.

Brunk isn’t sure what the document might go for because there is so little to compare it to. The last time a copy of the Constitution like this sold was for $400 in 1891. In 2021, Sotheby’s of New York sold one of only 14 remaining copies of the Constitution printed for the Continental Congress and delegates to the Constitutional Convention for $43.2 million , a record for a book or document.

But that document was meant to be distributed to the Founding Fathers as delegates to the Constitutional Convention. The signed copy being sold later this month was one meant to be sent to leaders in every state so people all around the country could review and decide if that’s how they wanted to be governed, connecting the writers of the Constitution to the people in the states who would provide its power and legitimacy.

The auction listing doesn’t identify the seller, saying its part of a collection that is in private hands.

Other items up for auction in Asheville including a 1776 first draft of the Articles of Confederation and a 1788 Journal of the Convention of North Carolina at Hillsborough where representatives spent two weeks debating if ratifying the Constitution would put too much power with the nation instead of the states.

A rare copy of the US Constitution went missing for centuries. Now it's being auctioned for millions

A rare copy of the U.S. Constitution that was signed and sent to states to ratify is up for auction later this month in North Carolina

ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Historical document appraiser and collector Seth Kaller spreads a broad sheet of paper across a desk. It's in good enough condition that he can handle it, carefully, with clean, bare hands. There are just a few creases and tiny discolorations, even though it's just a few weeks shy of 237 years old and has spent who knows how long inside a filing cabinet in North Carolina.

At the top of the first page are familiar words but in regular type instead of the sweeping Gothic script we're used to seeing: “WE, the People ..."

And the people will get a chance to bid for this copy of the U.S. Constitution — the only of its type thought to be in private hands — at a sale by Brunk Auctions on Sept. 28 in Asheville, North Carolina.

The minimum bid for the auction of $1 million has already been made. There is no minimum price that must be reached.

This copy was printed after the Constitutional Convention finished drafting the proposed framework of the nation's government in 1787 and sent it to the Congress of the ineffective first American government under the Articles of Confederation, requesting they send it to the states to be ratified by the people.

It's one of about 100 copies printed by the secretary of that Congress, Charles Thomson. Just eight are known to still exist and the other seven are publicly owned.

Thomson likely signed two copies for each of the original 13 states, essentially certifying them. They were sent to special ratifying conventions, where representatives, all white and male, wrangled for months before accepting the structure of the United States government that continues today.

“This is the point of connection between the government and the people. The Preamble — ‘we the people' — this is the moment the government is asking the people to empower them,” auctioneer Andrew Brunk said.

What happened to the document up for auction between Thomson's signature and 2022 isn't known.

Two years ago, a property was being cleared out in Edenton in eastern North Carolina that was once owned by Samuel Johnston. He was the governor of North Carolina from 1787 to 1789 and he oversaw the state convention during his last year in office that ratified the Constitution.

The copy was found inside a squat, two-drawer metal filing cabinet with a can of stain on top, in a long-neglected room piled high with old chairs and a dusty book case, before the old Johnston house was preserved. The document was a broad sheet that could be folded one time like a book.

“I get calls every week from people who think they have a Declaration of Independence or a Gettysburg Address and most of the time it is just a replica, but every so often something important gets found,” said Kaller , who appraises, buys and sells historic documents.

“This is a whole other level of importance,” he added.

Along with the Constitution on the broad sheet printed front and back is a letter from George Washington asking for ratification. He acknowledged there will have to be compromise and that rights the states enjoyed will have to be given up for the nation's long-term health.

“To secure all rights of independent sovereignty to each and yet provide for the interest and safety for all — individuals entering into society must give up a share of liberty to preserve the rest,” wrote the man who would become the first U.S. president.

Brunk isn't sure what the document might go for because there is so little to compare it to. The last time a copy of the Constitution like this sold was for $400 in 1891. In 2021, Sotheby's of New York sold one of only 14 remaining copies of the Constitution printed for the Continental Congress and delegates to the Constitutional Convention for $43.2 million , a record for a book or document.

But that document was meant to be distributed to the Founding Fathers as delegates to the Constitutional Convention. The signed copy being sold later this month was one meant to be sent to leaders in every state so people all around the country could review and decide if that’s how they wanted to be governed, connecting the writers of the Constitution to the people in the states who would provide its power and legitimacy.

The auction listing doesn't identify the seller, saying its part of a collection that is in private hands.

Other items up for auction in Asheville including a 1776 first draft of the Articles of Confederation and a 1788 Journal of the Convention of North Carolina at Hillsborough where representatives spent two weeks debating if ratifying the Constitution would put too much power with the nation instead of the states.

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A rare copy of the US Constitution went missing for centuries. Now it's being auctioned for millions

Correction us constitution-auction.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Historical document appraiser and collector Seth Kaller spreads a broad sheet of paper across a desk. It's in good enough condition that he can handle it, carefully, with clean, bare hands. There are just a few creases and tiny discolorations, even though it's just a few weeks shy of 237 years old and has spent who knows how long inside a filing cabinet in North Carolina.

At the top of the first page are familiar words but in regular type instead of the sweeping Gothic script we're used to seeing: “WE, the People ..."

And the people will get a chance to bid for this copy of the U.S. Constitution — the only of its type thought to be in private hands — at a sale by Brunk Auctions on Sept. 28 in Asheville, North Carolina.

The minimum bid for the auction of $1 million has already been made. There is no minimum price that must be reached.

This copy was printed after the Constitutional Convention finished drafting the proposed framework of the nation's government in 1787 and sent it to the Congress of the ineffective first American government under the Articles of Confederation, requesting they send it to the states to be ratified by the people.

It's one of about 100 copies printed by the secretary of that Congress, Charles Thomson. Just eight are known to still exist and the other seven are publicly owned.

Thomson likely signed two copies for each of the original 13 states, essentially certifying them. They were sent to special ratifying conventions, where representatives, all white and male, wrangled for months before accepting the structure of the United States government that continues today.

“This is the point of connection between the government and the people. The Preamble — ‘we the people' — this is the moment the government is asking the people to empower them,” auctioneer Andrew Brunk said.

What happened to the document up for auction between Thomson's signature and 2022 isn't known.

Two years ago, a property was being cleared out in Edenton in eastern North Carolina that was once owned by Samuel Johnston. He was the governor of North Carolina from 1787 to 1789 and he oversaw the state convention during his last year in office that ratified the Constitution.

The copy was found inside a squat, two-drawer metal filing cabinet with a can of stain on top, in a long-neglected room piled high with old chairs and a dusty book case, before the old Johnston house was preserved. The document was a broad sheet that could be folded one time like a book.

“I get calls every week from people who think they have a Declaration of Independence or a Gettysburg Address and most of the time it is just a replica, but every so often something important gets found,” said Kaller , who appraises, buys and sells historic documents.

“This is a whole other level of importance,” he added.

Along with the Constitution on the broad sheet printed front and back is a letter from George Washington asking for ratification. He acknowledged there will have to be compromise and that rights the states enjoyed will have to be given up for the nation's long-term health.

“To secure all rights of independent sovereignty to each and yet provide for the interest and safety for all — individuals entering into society must give up a share of liberty to preserve the rest,” wrote the man who would become the first U.S. president.

Brunk isn't sure what the document might go for because there is so little to compare it to. The last time a copy of the Constitution like this sold was for $400 in 1891. In 2021, Sotheby's of New York sold one of only 14 remaining copies of the Constitution printed for the Continental Congress and delegates to the Constitutional Convention for $43.2 million , a record for a book or document.

But that document was meant to be distributed to the Founding Fathers as delegates to the Constitutional Convention. The signed copy being sold later this month was one meant to be sent to leaders in every state so people all around the country could review and decide if that’s how they wanted to be governed, connecting the writers of the Constitution to the people in the states who would provide its power and legitimacy.

The auction listing doesn't identify the seller, saying its part of a collection that is in private hands.

Other items up for auction in Asheville including a 1776 first draft of the Articles of Confederation and a 1788 Journal of the Convention of North Carolina at Hillsborough where representatives spent two weeks debating if ratifying the Constitution would put too much power with the nation instead of the states.

Critic’s Notebook

The Constitution Is Sacred. Is It Also Dangerous?

One of the biggest threats to America’s politics might be the country’s founding document.

Credit... Photo illustration by Ben Denzer

Supported by

• Share full article

By Jennifer Szalai

• Aug. 31, 2024

The United States Constitution is in trouble. After Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, he called for the “ termination of all rules, regulations and articles, even those found in the Constitution.” Outraged critics denounced him for threatening a document that is supposed to be “sacrosanct.” By announcing his desire to throw off constitutional constraints in order to satisfy his personal ambitions, Trump was making his authoritarian inclinations abundantly clear.

It’s no surprise, then, that liberals charge Trump with being a menace to the Constitution . But his presidency and the prospect of his re-election have also generated another, very different, argument: that Trump owes his political ascent to the Constitution, making him a beneficiary of a document that is essentially antidemocratic and, in this day and age, increasingly dysfunctional.

After all, Trump became president in 2016 after losing the popular vote but winning the Electoral College (Article II). He appointed three justices to the Supreme Court (Article III), two of whom were confirmed by senators representing just 44 percent of the population (Article I). Those three justices helped overturn Roe v. Wade, a reversal with which most Americans disagreed . The eminent legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky, worried about opinion polls showing “a dramatic loss of faith in democracy,” writes in his new book, “No Democracy Lasts Forever”: “It is important for Americans to see that these failures stem from the Constitution itself.”

Back in 2018, Chemerinsky, the dean of Berkeley’s law school, still seemed to place considerable faith in the Constitution, pleading with fellow progressives in his book “We the People” “not to turn their back on the Constitution and the courts.” By contrast, “No Democracy Lasts Forever” is markedly pessimistic. Asserting that the Constitution, which is famously difficult to amend , has put the country “in grave danger,” Chemerinsky lays out what would need to happen for a new constitutional convention — and, in the book’s more somber moments, he entertains the possibility of secession . West Coast states might form a nation called “Pacifica.” Red states might form their own country. He hopes that any divorce, if it comes, will be peaceful.

The prospect of secession sounds extreme, but in suggesting that the Constitution could hasten the end of American democracy, Chemerinsky is far from alone. The argument that what ails the country’s politics isn’t simply the president, or Congress, or the Supreme Court, but the founding document that presides over all three, has been gaining traction, especially among liberals. Books and op-eds critiquing the Constitution have proliferated. Scholars are arguing that the Constitution has incentivized what Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt call a “Tyranny of the Minority.”

The anguish is, in some sense, a flip side of veneration. Americans have long assumed that the Constitution could save us; a growing chorus now wonders whether we need to be saved from it.

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Rare copy of the US Constitution went missing for centuries. Now it's being auctioned for millions

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ASHEVILLE, NC, Sept 8, (AP): Historical document appraiser and collector Seth Kaller spreads a broad sheet of paper across a desk. It's in good enough condition that he can handle it, carefully, with clean, bare hands. There are just a few creases and tiny discolorations, even though it's just a few weeks shy of 237 years old and has spent who knows how long inside a filing cabinet in North Carolina.

At the top of the first page are familiar words but in regular type instead of the sweeping Gothic script we're used to seeing: "WE, the People ..." And the people will get a chance to bid for this copy of the U.S. Constitution - the only of its type thought to be in private hands - at a sale by Brunk Auctions on Sept. 28 in Asheville, North Carolina.

The minimum bid for the auction of $1 million has already been made. There is no minimum price that must be reached. This copy was printed after the Constitutional Convention finished drafting the proposed framework of the nation's government in 1787 and sent it to the Congress of the ineffective first American government under the Articles of Confederation, requesting they send it to the states to be ratified by the people.

It's one of about 100 copies printed by the secretary of that Congress, Charles Thomson. Just eight are known to still exist and the other seven are publicly owned. Thomson likely signed two copies for each of the original 13 states, essentially certifying them. They were sent to special ratifying conventions, where representatives, all white and male, wrangled for months before accepting the structure of the United States government that continues today.

"This is the point of connection between the government and the people. The Preamble - ‘we the people' - this is the moment the government is asking the people to empower them,” auctioneer Andrew Brunk said. What happened to the document up for auction between Thomson's signature and 2022 isn't known. Two years ago, a property was being cleared out in Edenton in eastern North Carolina that was once owned by Samuel Johnston. He was the governor of North Carolina from 1787 to 1789 and he oversaw the state convention during his last year in office that ratified the Constitution.