U.S. Constitution Quiz

Four handwritten pages. That's all it took to lay the foundation for the world's oldest written national constitution still in use. Drafted in the sweltering summer of 1787 behind locked doors in Philadelphia, the U.S. Constitution has governed a nation through civil war, economic collapse, and social upheaval — and it's still remarkably brief.

The document reads like a blueprint more than a manifesto. It divides power, sets limits, and leaves plenty of room for argument. Two centuries of that arguing have shaped everything from courtroom procedure to who gets to vote.

Here's something most people never learn in school: the Constitution was signed by only 39 of the 55 delegates who attended the convention. Some refused outright. Others simply left town, unwilling to put their names to it. Consensus was never the goal — a workable compromise was.

And the man often called the "Father of the Constitution," James Madison, stood barely over five feet tall and weighed around 100 pounds. His detailed notes remain the best record of what actually happened in that room, since the proceedings were kept secret from the public and the press.

The original parchment itself has led a dramatic life. During World War II, it was quietly whisked out of Washington and stored at Fort Knox alongside the nation's gold reserves, guarded against the possibility of enemy attack. Today it sits sealed in a case filled with inert argon gas, monitored around the clock.

Then there's the ink. The Constitution wasn't written by the Founders' own hands but penned by Jacob Shallus, an assistant clerk to the Pennsylvania Assembly. He was paid $30 for the job — and history barely remembers his name.

So how well does the framework of American government hold up under scrutiny? The branches of power, the ratification battles, the amendments that reshaped the country decades and even centuries later — it's a system built on precise language and fierce debate.

What did the framers actually write, and what came only later through the amendment process? The difference matters more than most realize.

Time to find out how solid that constitutional knowledge really is. Dive into the quiz below and put it to the test.