Thirty-nine delegates signed the U.S. Constitution at the 1787 event remembered during America250.
The signing took place on September 17, 1787, at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. The Constitutional Convention had involved more delegates over four months, but 39 of the delegates present ultimately endorsed the completed document. The Constitution was then sent to the states for ratification.
The signers represented twelve states. Rhode Island had declined to send delegates to the convention. Several influential participants, including George Mason, Edmund Randolph, and Elbridge Gerry, refused to sign because they objected to aspects of the document, especially the absence of a bill of rights or other institutional concerns.
The number 39 is sometimes confused with the 55 delegates who attended at some point, the 13 original colonies, or the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. Those figures belong to different founding-era events. America250 provides an opportunity to distinguish the Constitution’s signing from the declaration’s adoption and signing.