The 17th of September 1787 Constitution Day: New Book Chronicles the Untold Story of Our Founding Document
The 17th of September 1787 Constitution Day
Dale Dungan Pullen
Dale Pullen’s posthumously published book embodies his lifelong campaign to make Americans take Constitution Day more seriously.
FL, UNITED STATES, May 25, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Many Americans and most younger adults still can’t name the three branches of government. Several states no longer require the effective teaching of civics in public schools. And September 17 goes by every year without much fanfare. The 17th of September 1787 Constitution Day, now available on Amazon, is out to rectify this situation.
In Constitution Day, he takes readers inside the sweltering Philadelphia State House in the summer of 1787, where 55 of the most experienced politicians in America spent four months in furious, often near-catastrophic debate.
The small states against the large states. The North against the South. Slaveholders against abolitionists. Separation of church from government and freedom of religion. Men who wanted a king against men who had just fought a war to get rid of the monarchy.
This is the untold story of our Constitution.
“Somehow we’ve got to realize that Sept. 17, 1787, was an amazing day,” Pullen told the Florida Weekly in 2016, a year before his death. “If they hadn’t compromised, it would have fallen apart.”
In other words, it is a miracle that the Constitution even exists. And that is precisely why it should be cherished. In today’s polarized political landscape, contemporary leaders and voters can learn a thing or two about compromise and consensus from the Founding Fathers.
The book also describes the role of intellectual giants like Locke, Montesquieu, and Paine, whose ideas the Founders absorbed and molded to American conditions. You can even read about the nail-biting state-by-state ratification fights, where Patrick Henry nearly killed the whole thing out of fear of central government dominating freedom in Virginia, and how Alexander Hamilton held New York together by sheer force of argument. These, and other lesser-known facts, are what make this book so interesting and essential. The author does not shy away from the controversies that ensued in the Philadelphia State House in 1787.
And at the center of it all was James Madison, the 36-year-old Virginian who engineered the entire enterprise. According to the author, Madison is the architect of the Constitution and deserves a national memorial.
Dale Pullen wrote this book for teachers scrambling to comply with a little-known federal law mandated in 2005 that required them to teach the Constitution on September 17. The book is simple and accessible in its presentation and includes visuals of important locations and individuals to help readers visualize the constitutional history as it unfolded.
Dale Dungan Pullen (1929-2017) was a Duke University graduate, University of Florida Law School alumnus, Air Force veteran, Washington political correspondent, and recipient of the National Political Science Association Congressional Fellowship.
In his final years, he relentlessly campaigned for Constitution Day to be made a national holiday of higher importance than a mere observance, and this book, published posthumously by his son, Claude John Pullen, explains why.
Book Details
Title: The 17th of September 1787 Constitution Day
Author: Dale Dungan Pullen
Genre: American History / Civics
Language: English
Availability: Available now on Amazon and Barnes and Noble in paperback, hardcover, and Kindle
Yaseen M Khan
NEXCORE SOLUTIONS INC
email us here
Visit us on social media:
Instagram
Facebook
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
