public:cb_mirror:who_really_wrote_the_constitution_txt_blogposts_30309
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Who really wrote the Constitution?
The Constitution's penman.
| We know who framed the Constitution. But who wrote it? Put finely, who actually penned the iconic We the People script that is found everywhere from the above graphic, on the parchment paper that is preserved in the National Archives, t-shirts, flags, bumper stickers and decals, and even tattooed on the forearm of the current Secretary of War? The man wielding the pen – or in this case likely the goose quill – was Philadelphian Jacob Shallus. On September 15, 1787, when the delegates to the Constitutional Convention had completed the painstaking work that took place during the stifling Philadelphia summer, they turned to Shallus “to transcribe and engross” the document. Shallus was born in Pennsylvania in 1750, not long after his father, a German immigrant innkeeper named Valentine, had arrived there. Shallus served during the Revolutionary War as a quartermaster in the 1st Battalion of Pennsylvania during the difficult Canadian Campaign. Prior to hostilities with our British cousins, Shallus was listed as a “gentleman” in the Philadelphia tax rolls and earned income as a merchant. When the Framers gathered in Philadelphia in 1787, Shallus was working as an assistant clerk to the Pennsylvania General Assembly, which then met at what the Pennsylvania State House – now known as Independence Hall. There the Framers debated, compromised, and settled upon the language of the Constitution. Shallus may have been recommended to the convention by Pennsylvania delegate Thomas Mifflin, who in his role as Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly had signed several documents engrossed by Shallus. According to the National Archives website, Shallus was commissioned for the task, for which he was paid $30 – a little over $1,000 today – for about 40 hours worth of exacting transcription of the nearly 4,500 words that would become the charter that launched the republic. Shallus accurately transcribed the draft in his distinctive script, though //The Constitutional Convention of 1787: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of America's Founding// tells us that Alexander Hamilton wrote the list of states at the bottom of the document. The encyclopedia also states that Shallus utilized four sheets of animal skin-treated parchment, most likely a goose quill that he would dip in ink that consisted of “iron filings in oak gall.” Thanks to the careful work of Shallus, the Constitution was ready for signing on September 17, 1787. Thirty-nine signatures were affixed to the document. Appropriately enough, George Washington, who presided over the proceedings as president, signed first. As for Shallus, he continued his work for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and was credited as an assistant secretary of the state constitution, which was reauthored in 1790. He died on April 18, 1796. There you have it. You will be in total control should you want to stump friends and family with an interesting bit of history, or should a cleverly-worded Jeopardy! clue emerge. When you next you see “We the People” in that familiar and singular script in any number of places, think of Philadelphia's own Jacob Shallus, the writer of the United States Constitution. # | PETITION_WIDGET{petition_tag:;coalition_id:;anedot_url:} | # |
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| Created: | 2025-07-03 14:01 GMT |
| Updated: | 2025-09-24 07:00 GMT |
| Published: | 2025-09-18 11:58 GMT |
| Converted: | 2025-11-11 12:06 GMT |
| Change Author: | Matt May |
| Credit Author: | |
public/cb_mirror/who_really_wrote_the_constitution_txt_blogposts_30309.txt · Last modified: 2025/11/11 12:06 by 127.0.0.1