The story of the U.S. Constitution does not begin with the signing of the document on September 17, l787, nor with the ninth state ratifying it and thereby establishing it as the supreme law of the land. Nor does the story begin with the Philadelphia convention attended by some of the most prominent Americans of their day in the hot, sweltering summer of 1787. In fact, the story of the U.S. Constitution begins over a decade earlier. It starts with the American colonies' announcement that they considered themselves free of British rule and their subsequent effort to establish a new government.

On July 4, 1776, the American colonies announced their plan to break all ties with Britain. This announcement took the form of one of the most famous documents of human history, the Declaration of Independence. However, the Declaration of Independence, no matter...