The Estes Valley Voice held a two-hour Constitution Day Free Speech Zone event in George Hix Plaza on Wednesday, Sept. 17.
National Constitution Day is observed annually on Sept. 17 to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787. Since 2004, the day also serves as Citizenship Day, recognizing those who have become U.S. citizens through birth or naturalization.
More than 40 people gathered and more than a dozen speakers stood up on the Estes Valley Voice’s Free Speech soapbox, including Mayor Gary Hall, who read a proclamation about the importance of the U.S. Constitution.
The mayor and others, including attorney Autumn Nelson, who coordinates legal clinics for immigrants working to become U.S. citizens, took advantage of the opportunity to express themselves with sidewalk chalk on the pavement in the Free Speech Zone.
Owners of Nepal’s Restaurant, located on George Hix Plaza steps from the Estes Valley Voice Free Speech Zone, came out to greet participants and offer chai. Constitution Day is also National Citizenship Day, which celebrates American citizenship by birth or naturalization.
At noon, people involved with Patriots for Peace stood on the corner of Elkhorn Avenue and Park Lane and waved signs. The group, which has 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status and provides scholarships for graduating seniors, has met every Wednesday from noon to 12:30 p.m. along Estes Park’s main downtown corridor to promote peace since 2003.
At 2 p.m., the Daughters of the American Revolution met on Elkhorn Avenue in front of Bond Park to ring bells for one minute in a coordinated “Bells Across America” event. The event took place simultaneously in communities across the country to commemorate the exact timing of the signing of the Constitution 238 years ago, when bells across Philadelphia rang out.
Key dates related to the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution
Many people conflate the signing of the Declaration of Independence with the signing of the U.S. Constitution and are not always sure how those events fit with the timeline of the beginning and ending of the Revolutionary War.
April 19, 1775: Revolutionary War begins at the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts.
June 11, 1776: The process of writing the Declaration of Independence begins during the Second Continental Congress, with the appointment of a five-member committee that included John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Robert Livingston of New York, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, the primary author.
July 4, 1776: Delegates to the Second Continental Congress formally adopted the final draft of the Declaration of Independence. The exact number who voted is unknown, but it is believed to be between 34 and 41.
July 6, 1776: The Pennsylvania Evening Post published the Declaration of Independence.
July 8, 1776: The first public readings occurred simultaneously at three locations at noon in Philadelphia.
July 19, 1776: Congress ordered that the Declaration of Independence be engrossed on parchment.
August 2, 1776: Delegates began signing the Declaration of Independence.
March 1, 1781: The Articles of Confederation, which established a central government, were fully ratified by all 13 states.
September 3, 1773: The Revolutionary War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.
May 25, 1787: The Constitutional Convention convened in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation.
September 17, 1787: The final draft of the U.S. Constitution was signed by 39 of the 55 delegates to the Convention. Three delegates present on the final day, George Mason of Virginia, Edmund Randolph of Virginia, and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, refused to sign because the document lacked a bill of rights.
June 21, 1788: The Constitution was ratified by the ninth state to make it effective, and
March 4, 1789: The day the new United States government under the Constitution began operating.
September 25, 1789: The U.S. Bill of Rights – consisting of the First Ten Amendments to the Constitution – was proposed by Congress.
December 15, 1791: The Bill of Rights was officially ratified by the states on December 15, 1791.
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