Wikipedia:Today's featured article/January 15, 2005

The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America and is the oldest written national constitution still in force. It was completed on September 17, 1787, with its adoption by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, and was later ratified by special conventions called for that purpose in each of the then-existing thirteen American states. It took effect in 1788, and has served as a model for a number of other nations' constitutions. It created a more unified government in place of what was then a group of independent states operating under the Articles of Confederation. (more...)