Here’s James Beaver Madison, doing some last minute spell-checking on the US Constitution. The delegates signed the Constitution on September 17, 1787, ending a turbulent eleven-year period, during which time Americans transitioned from living under a sovereign king (King George III) to living in sovereign states (under the Articles of Confederation), to living in a republic.
The Constitution has proved to be a remarkably durable document, perhaps all the more remarkable since George Washington did “not expect the Constitution to last for more than 20 years.”