<P> The language of the concluding endorsement, conceived by Gouverneur Morris and presented to the convention by Benjamin Franklin, was made intentionally ambiguous in hopes of winning over the votes of dissenting delegates . Advocates for the new frame of government, realizing the impending difficulty of obtaining the consent of the states needed to make it operational, were anxious to obtain the unanimous support of the delegations from each state . It was feared that many of the delegates would refuse to give their individual assent to the Constitution . Therefore, in order that the action of the Convention would appear to be unanimous, the formula, Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present...was devised . </P> <P> The document is dated: "the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord" 1787, and "of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth ." This two-fold epoch dating serves to place the Constitution in the context of the religious traditions of Western civilization and, at the same time, links it to the regime principles proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence . This dual reference can also be found in the Articles of Confederation and the Northwest Ordinance . </P> <P> The closing endorsement serves an authentication function only . It neither assigns powers to the federal government nor does it provide specific limitations on government action . It does however, provide essential documentation of the Constitution's validity, a statement of "This is what was agreed to ." It records who signed the Constitution, and when and where . </P> <P> The Constitution has twenty - seven amendments . Structurally, the Constitution's original text and all prior amendments remain untouched . The precedent for this practice was set in 1789, when Congress considered and proposed the first several Constitutional amendments . Among these, Amendments 1--10 are collectively known as the Bill of Rights, and Amendments 13--15 are known as the Reconstruction Amendments . Excluding the Twenty - seventh Amendment, which was pending before the states for 7004740030000000000 ♠ 202 years, 225 days, the longest pending amendment that was successfully ratified was the Twenty - second Amendment, which took 7003143900000000000 ♠ 3 years, 343 days . The Twenty - sixth Amendment was ratified in the shortest time, 100 days . The average ratification time for the first twenty - six amendments was 1 year, 252 days, for all twenty - seven, 9 years, 48 days . </P>

Number of words in article 1 of the constitution