Question: Who was the first President of the United States – Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Hanson or George Washington?
Answer: John Hanson was the first President of the government under the Articles of Confederation. However, George Washington was the first President under the new Constitution of the United States.
On Sunday, Sept. 15,. the Kent Good Times Dispatch participated in International Democracy Day, printing several important articles on the subjects of political signage and the impact of Connecticut’s new Early Voting law on small towns.
The Kent Memorial Library celebrated with a civics lesson in local government.
In both of these programs the upcoming election and voting were prominent.
Two days later, Sept. 17, was designated National Voter Registration Day.
Somehow in the midst of all this interest in democracy and voting, we missed the most important of all the holidays, Constitution Day, which also occurred on Sept. 17. It marks the day that 39 delegates to the Convention to Amend the Articles of Confederation held in Philadelphia completed and signed the Constitution of the United States, creating a strong central government with checks and balances designed to keep any one of the three branches—Executive, Legislative and Judicial—from wielding too much power.
When asked what kind of government they had created, Benjamin Franklin, the oldest member, is alleged to have replied “a Republic, if we can keep it.”
The law designating this day as a holiday directs that all schools that receive federal funds shall teach about the Constitution and all government buildings shall display the American flag.
In 2004, Congress combined Constitution Day with Citizenship Day, which “recognizes all who by coming of age or by naturalization have become citizens.”
Since then, Sept. 17 is recognized as Constitution Day and Citizenship Day (if Constitution Day and Citizen Day fall on a weekend or on another holiday, the special day is observed on an adjacent weekday).
Section D of the law provides for State & Local Observances: “The civil and educational authorities of States, counties, cities and towns are urged to make plans for the proper observance of Constitution Day and Citizenship Day and for the complete instruction of citizens in their responsibilities and opportunities as citizens of the United States and of the State and locality in which they reside.”
In the coming months, I will be writing a column that will focus on civics, taking a closer look at federal, state and local governments.
We will look into what they do, how they are organized, how individuals are nominated for office and the different kinds of elections.
For October, we will focus on the often confusing Electoral College and its role in the election of a President.
Hopefully we will be better prepared to celebrate Constitution Day and Citizenship Day in the future and have a better understanding of how all the government entities that affect our lives work.
Karen Chase, a longtime public servant and Kent resident, was a Kent Registrar of Voters, a past chairman of the Park and Recreation Commission, a past member of the Community House Commission, and was involved with the town’s 200th anniversary of the Constitution and the 250th anniversary of the Town of Kent events. She also co-chaired the Kent Historic District Commission and served on the Zoning Board of Appeals. She has been an editor and reporter for the former KGTD and was a founding member of the present KGTD, which was named to honor the legacy of the former newspaper that served the community until 2009.
Other Remembering Civics columns can be found here:
