Fort Graham Chapter, NSDAR - Whitney TX

Happy 136th birthday to the Daughters of the American Revolution! This service organization, founded October 11, 1890 to promote historic preservation, education and patriotic service, is still going strong today with over 185,000 members! Want to join? Contact us!

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📜🇺🇸 September 25, 1789: Congress Proposes the Bill of Rights

Meeting at Federal Hall in New York City, then the nation's capital, the First Congress approved 12 amendments to the Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification.

James Madison introduced the amendments on June 8, 1789. The House passed 17 in August, and the Senate consolidated them into 12. At Roger Sherman's urging, the amendments were added at the end of the Constitution rather than woven into its text.

On December 15, 1791, ten of the 12 were ratified and became the Bill of Rights.

An interesting fact is that another was ratified in 1992 as the 27th Amendment, 203 years after it was proposed!

🏛️ Pictured: Washington's inauguration at Federal Hall, April 30, 1789, with the Senate's marked-up draft of the amendments.

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✍️ The Three Men Who Refused to Sign the Constitution

They had spent months arguing. They had debated. They had compromised. They had rewritten their work again and again. And on September 17, 1787, the moment finally arrived.

The Constitution was ready to be signed, but three men said no.

Of the 42 men present that day, 39 ultimately signed the Constitution. George Mason, Elbridge Gerry, and Edmund Randolph refused. Why?

One major concern was something we know very well today:

📜 There was no Bill of Rights.

George Mason, who had helped write Virginia's Declaration of Rights, believed individual liberties needed explicit protection. He refused to put his name on the Constitution without one.

Elbridge Gerry also pushed for protections for individual rights and worried about the amount of power given to the new national government. On September 12, he proposed adding a bill of rights but the proposal was rejected.

Edmund Randolph had his own objections as well. He had opposed the final document and joined Mason and Gerry in calling for another convention to consider amendments. So while 39 men put their names on the parchment, three remained seated.

And here's the fascinating part: Their objections didn't simply disappear.

The debate continued after the Convention ended. During the fight over ratification, the demand for protections for individual liberties became a major issue. Eventually, amendments were proposed and the Bill of Rights became part of the Constitution in 1791.

So when you look at the Constitution today, remember: It wasn't created because everyone agreed. It was created through argument, disagreement, compromise and sometimes, refusal. Those three men who wouldn't sign became part of the story, too.

📜 History isn't always about the people who said yes. Sometimes, the people who said no helped change what came next. 🇺🇸