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The U.S. Constitution ~ the "engrossed" version [copy]
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* this copy is a SCAN of the inside of the dust jacket to the book: "They Signed Their Rights Away" (c. 2011; Chronicle/Quirk Book) ; by: Denise Kiernan and Joseph D'Agnese.
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The phrase "engrossed copy" means:
The engrossed copy of the United States Constitution is the official handwritten parchment document presented for signature by the delegates of the Constitutional Convention. It was engrossed (handwritten in a large, clear script) by Jacob Shallus, the assistant clerk of the Pennsylvania legislature, over the weekend of September 15–17, 1787.
Key Details
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Scribe and Creation: Jacob Shallus spent approximately 35 to 40 hours copying the final text onto four sheets of parchment. He was paid $30 for this work.
Physical Characteristics: The document measures 28 3/4 inches by 23 5/8 inches and contains over 4,000 words. While Shallus wrote the entire text, the list of states at the end was written in Alexander Hamilton's handwriting.
Signatures: The document was signed on September 17, 1787, by 38 of the 55 delegates present (39 names signed, as John Dickinson’s delegate signed for him).
Historical Context: Although the engrossed parchment is the most iconic version today, the public initially encountered the Constitution through 500 printed broadsides produced by John Dunlap and David Claypoole. The handwritten version became the authoritative archetype only after it was placed on public display in 1876.
Current Location: The engrossed copy is permanently displayed in the Rotunda of the "Charters of Freedom" at the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C., alongside the 'Declaration of Independence' and the 'Bill of Rights'.
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Comment by Scott T. Shier on Friday
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The men who "signed their rights away" --->
- John Langdon - the Signer who Picked Up the 'Tab' - [generous gentleman!]
- Nicholas Gilman - the Most Handsome Signer
- Nathaniel Gorham - the Signer who Considered a Monarchy
- Rufus King - the Signer who Always Ran (and Never Won)
Rufus King never won a presidential election, losing decisively in 1816 as the last Federalist Party nominee with only 34 electoral votes to James Monroe's 183. He also lost previous bids for vice president in 1804 and 1808 alongside Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and failed in a 1816 New York gubernatorial race against Daniel D. Tompkins.
Despite these electoral defeats, King achieved significant political success as a Founding Father who signed the U.S. Constitution, served as a U.S. Senator from New York for multiple terms (1789–1796, 1813–1825), and acted as Minister to Great Britain under Presidents Washington and John Quincy Adams.
- William Samuel Johnson - the Signer who Lived the Longest - [e.g., died 1819]
- Roger Sherman - the Signer who Knew How to Compromise - ['atta boy]
- Alexander Hamilton - the Signer who Died in a Duel [yes, the famous mano-a-mano w/ that otherwise scallywag, Aaron Burr]
- William Livingston - the Signer-Poet [published poet and essayist; his 1747 poem Philosophic Solitude is considered one of the first successful original poems written by an American colonist.]
- David Brearly - the Signer who Proposed Erasing State Boundaries and 'Starting Over'
- William Paterson - the Son of a Door-to-Door Salesman
- Jonathan Dayton - the Youngest Signer, as well as the Signer who connived w/ Aaron Burr and was tried for treason [Nice.]
- Benjamin Franklin - the Signer Known throughout the World [Indeed, truly the fist 'global celebrity, beloved & admired everywhere]
- Thomas Mifflin - the Signer who was Ruined by Drink
- Robert Morris - the Signer who went to Debtor's Prison [So, he financed the War & Congress, and that's the 'thanks' they extended him . . for shame!]
- George Clymer - the Signer Whose Home was was Destroyed by the British [i.e., in 1777 following capture of Philadelphia by the British]
- Thomas Fitzsimmons - the Signer who Loaned Away His Fortune (and Never Got It Back) [well, "Trust No One"]
- Jared Ingersoll - the Signer who Couldn't Keep Up with Fashion
- Gouverneur Morris - the 'Playboy' with the Wooden Leg
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CONTINUED . . . --->
19. George Read - the Signer who Signed Twice...? [i.e., he signed for himself, then on behalf of John Dickinson, who was ill and unable to attend the signing]
20. Gunning Bedford, Jr. - the Signer who Trusted No One [Mr. Bedford Jr. seems to be the polar opposite of Mr. Fitzsimmons, above, eh.]
21. John Dickinson - the Signer who Never Signed [e.g., though he voted in favor of the Constitution, and intended to sign, he took ill prior to the signing ceremony. He asked George Read to sign for him in his place, representing Delaware.]
22. Richard Bassett - the Signer who Overcame Religious Discrimination [he
23. Jacob Broom - the Invisible Signer
- [*Jacob Broom is referred to as an "invisible" signer of the Constitution because no known portrait of him exists. In Howard Chandler Christy’s famous 1940 painting "Scene at the Signing of the United States Constitution" Broom’s face was intentionally obscured + left blank because artists could not locate any likeness of him.]
24. James McHenry - the Signer Immortalized by the Star-Spangled Banner
25. Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer - the Signer with the Mysterious Middle Name
26. Daniel Carroll - the Signer who Helped Create Washington, D.C., the nation's new & permanent capital.
27. George Washington - The President of the Constitutional Convention [but of course, who else?]
28. John Blair - The Underachieving Signer
29. James Madison, Jr. - "The Father of the Constitution" [look, this moniker has always been inflated and not literally true - he was 1 man on a team]
30. William Blount - the Signer who . . . Oh, There's No Way to Dance Around the Issue, This Guy was a Crook!
31. Richard Dobbs Spaight - the Other Signer who Died in a Duel
32. Hugh Williamson - the Signer who Believed in Aliens [yeah, really]
33. John Rutledge - the Signer who Attempted Suicide
34. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney - the Signer who Wouldn't Bribe the French ['atta boy!]
35. Pierce Butler - the Signer who Turned Coat on the King [wait, didn't all of these signers . . . wait, whatever]
36. William Few - the Signer who Lived the 'American Dream'
37. Abraham Baldwin - the Signer who Pinched Pennies
38. James Wilson - the Signer-Turned-Fugitive
39. Charles Pinckney - the Ghost Writer of the Constitution ?
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And just 1 more --->
- the "40th Signer" -- William Jackson
- In the bottom-left corner of The Constitution, there is seen a signature that does not belong to any of the official delegates at the Constitutional Convention. It reads as: "Attest William Jackson, Secretary"
- Sometimes described by historians as the 40th signer -- though he did not sign as a representative of any state, -- Jackson was born in 1759 on the border between England and Scotland.
- He fought in the Revolutionary War. Then later, during the Constitutional Convention, he was vouchsafed by Alexander Hamilton and taken on as a recording secretary.
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