“Between Roosevelt’s late November Bill of Rights Day proclamation and his radio address on December 15, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy declared war on the United States.”
Summary
Among many days worthy of remembrance, one that is often forgotten is June 8, 1789, when James Madison, in the first Congress under the newly ratified Constitution, addressed the House in a historic speech. The government had been operating for only a few months. Several states had submitted proposed amendments to the Constitution which Madison encouraged Congress to consider and worked to consolidate and draft himself. The result would be what the world now knows as the Bill of Rights.
Resources
- The American Story Episode 114: We the People
- The American Story Episode 62: Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver
- The American Story Episode 106: Anti-slavery Constitution
- Ratification of the Bill of Rights
- Amendments to the Constitution: James Madison in Congress on June 8, 1789
- Franklin D. Roosevelt: “Address of the President Broadcast in Connection with the Celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Adoption of the Bill of Rights”
Credits
- Narrator: Chris Flannery
- Audio Producer: Derek Wood
- Music Supervisor: Blake Huxell
