14 Unexpected Facts About The US Constitution
How well do you actually know the Constitution?
![14 Unexpected Facts About The US Constitution](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/7/7/782677_320x180.jpg)
Does your understanding of the Constitution exist somewhere between high school social studies and a Nicolas Cage movie? That's okay, here at Cracked we've got your back, with these 14 mostly useless Constiution-related facts.
![George Washington ran up a $15, 400 bar tab in celebration Two days before signing the Constitution, Washington and 54 soldiers had 54 bottles of Madeira wine, 60 bottles of claret, 22 bottles of porter, 12 bottles of beer, 8 bottles of cider and 7 large bowls of punch. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/5/8/782658.jpg)
Source: Chicago Tribune
![The word democracy does not appear in the Constitution. De the Hands den Peop important Pertinity, Hinde Po and (Although it doesn't use the word, our government is still a representative democracy.) CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/3/7/782637.jpg)
Source: US Constitution
![When not on display, the Constitution is lowered into an underground vault. The atomic bomb-proof vault that keeps the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights safe is shrouded in secrecy since its update in the early 2000s. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/7/5/782675.jpg)
Source: Atlas Obscura
![The Constitution took less than 100 working days to draft. George Washington chosen unanimously to preside over the Constitutional Convention. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/6/5/782665.jpg)
Source: National Archives
![The document is framed in pure titanium coated with gold. The encasement is designed SO the building could collapse around the Constitution and the document would survive. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/7/6/782676.jpg)
Source: Popular Mechanics
![Not all 13 states were represented. UNITED STATES Rhode Island refused to send a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, fearing a federal government that would take away states' rights. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/7/4/782674.jpg)
Source: Constitution Center
![The first National Thanksgiving was mainly to celebrate the Constitution Thanksgiving was celebrated in previous years, but George Washington made the Thanksgiving Proclamation, telling Americans to be grateful for their blessings especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/3/3/782633.jpg)
Source: National Archive
![Pennsylvania was spelled as Pensylvania in the Constitution. It wasn't a misspelling; it was an alternate spelling of the time. On the Liberty Bell, the state is spelled in the same way. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/3/4/782634.jpg)
Source: US Constitution
![Only six founding fathers signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constituion The men are George Clymer, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, George Read, James Wilson, and Roger Sherman. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/6/6/782666.jpg)
Source: Constitution Center
![Benjamin Franklin was 81 and in poor health when he advocated for the document Franklin was the only Founding Father to have signed Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Alliance with France, the Treaty of Paris, and the U.S. Constitution. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/3/0/782630.jpg)
Source: PBS
![3 of 42 men present refused to sign the document. George Mason, Elbridge Gerry (you might know him because gerrymandering was named after him), and Edmund Randolph didn't sign because it didn't include a bill of rights. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/2/2/782622.jpg)
Source: National Archives
![The U.S. Constitution is the oldest active single-document constitution. Well People Princle Viction:/ til Signature Rave Since 1789, the mean lifespan of a constitution is only 17 years. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/2/7/782627.jpg)
Source: University of Chicago
![Thomas Jefferson and John Adams didn't sign the Constitution. They were both on European diplomatic missions during the convention. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/9/9/782599.jpg)
Source: National Archives
![Jacob Shallus wrote the Constitution. The assistant clerk for the Pennsylvania General Assembly was paid $30 to physically write the final version of the document. It took him 40 hours. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/9/8/782598.jpg)
Source: National Archives