U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, of West Virginia, proposed the bill requiring educational institutions that receive federal funds to hold programs every September 17 to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787. Byrd was elected to the Senate in 1958, and during this long tenure, he has become well known for his interest in issues like education, health care, transportation, employment and for his defense of and commitment to the Constitution.
Federal Register, May 19, 2005 (PDF)
Information about Indiana’s first Constitution and the general climate of constitution-making in Indiana and the U.S. as a whole is covered in this article. Prof. Baude places the 1816 Constitution in context with others of its time and provides readers with a greater understanding of the historic work performed beneath the branches of the Constitutional Elm in Corydon that summer.
Produced by the Indiana Court of Appeals, this booklet contains documents important to Indiana’s founding. It includes the Declaration of Independence, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the Constitution of the United States, and the Indiana Constitution of 1851. These documents set forth the basic structure of our government and provide the historical and legal foundations for Indiana’s justice system.
Read about the preservation of Indiana’s 1816 and 1851 state constitutions in this pamphlet. Each year from December 11, Statehood Day, to the close of the legislative session, the restored state constitutions can be found in the Statehouse Rotunda displayed in a case decorated with a veneer of wood from the Constitutional Elm in Corydon.
During the 1816 Constitutional Convention in Corydon, many discussions and debates took place outside beneath this elm tree because of the summer heat. The “Constitutional Elm” died in 1925 of Dutch Elm Disease, but its trunk was preserved and pieces were squirreled away in garages all over the town. Some of those pieces were used to build the display case for the documents in the Statehouse Rotunda. If you happen to visit Corydon, be sure to visit the trunk of the “Constitutional Elm.”
Left. Constitutional Elm in 1915 (Indiana Historical Society). Right. Constitutional Elm today (Harrison County Convention & Visitor's Bureau).
Built between 1732 and 1753, Independence Hall in Philadelphia was the venue for writing, debating, and signing of the U.S. Constitution. During the summer of 1787, the windows were kept closed to allow the delegates to openly discuss the matters at hand without fear of being overheard by the press or the public.
