U.S. Constitution Signed

September 17, 1787

After four months of argument, compromise, and Franklin's quiet humor, thirty-nine delegates signed the Constitution. Franklin glanced at Washington's chair and said he now knew whether the sun carved in its back was rising or setting. Ratification would be a harder fight, state by state, over twelve long months. Hamilton, Madison, and Jay wrote eighty-five Federalist Papers to persuade New York, and barely succeeded.