Each year, barbecues, yard games, concerts, parades and fireworks displays are all traditions for Americans celebrating the Fourth of July in the United States. 

The day is celebrated to mark the nation’s birth after becoming independent of Great Britain.

Here are some fun facts that you may not know about the Fourth of July.

Independence was not declared on July 4th26 original copies of the Declaration of Independence still existGeorge Washington’s reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 9, 1776, led to a riot in New York City, resulting in King George III’s statue being torn downAfter the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and other documents were secretly stashed at Fort Knox during World War II56 men signed the Declaration of Independence, but many of them never became famousThe Fourth of July wasn’t made a federal holiday until 1870The first Fourth of July fireworks were in 1777The oldest Fourth of July parade is in the smallest state

1. Independence was not declared on July 4th

July 4, 1776, is significant because that is the day Congress officially adopted the Declaration of Independence document. However, the second Continental Congress actually voted for independence on July 2. 

In a letter to his wife, Abigail, John Adams predicted that future generations would celebrate July 2 as Independence Day, saying, ‘The second day of July, 1776, will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illumination, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore.’

2. 26 original copies of the Declaration of Independence still exist

After the Declaration of Independence was adopted, the ‘Committee of Five,’ which consisted of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston, was responsible for the reproduction of the approved text. 

On July 5, Philadelphia printer John Dunlap sent out all the copies he made to newspapers across the 13 colonies, in addition to commanders of the Continental troops and local politicians. There were initially hundreds of copies known as ‘Dunlap broadsides,’ but only 26 of them survive today and are mostly exhibited in museum and library collections. One of the most recently discovered ‘Dunlap broadsides’ was found by a Philadelphia man in the back of a picture frame that was purchased at a flea market for $4 in 1989.

3. George Washington’s reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 9, 1776, led to a riot in New York City, resulting in King George III’s statue being torn down

When one of the ‘Dunlap broadsides’ arrived in New York City on July 9, 1776, George Washington, who was the Commander of the Continental forces in New York at the time, read the document to the crowd in front of city hall. Many of them cheered and tore down a statue of King George III nearby. The statue was later melted down and used to make tens of thousands of musket balls for the American army.

4. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and other documents were secretly stashed at Fort Knox during World War II

After the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Secret Service Agent Harry Neal was tasked with transferring ‘priceless historical documents’ to a secure facility away from Washington, D.C. After meeting with librarian Archibald MacLeish at the Library of Congress, Neal orchestrated the logistics of how they would discreetly transport the documents out of D.C. to Fort Knox, which is near Louisville, Kentucky. Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, the Gutenberg Bible and the Articles of Confederation were also stored in some of the cases at Fort Knox. The Declaration was returned to Washington, D.C., in 1944.

5. 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence, but many of them never became famous

Signers of the Declaration of Independence like John Adams and Thomas Jefferson went on to dedicate their lives to public service and serve as the second and third presidents of the United States, respectively. However, several of the signers are only remembered by history, such as Button Gwinnett of Georgia and New Hampshire’s Josiah Bartlett, whose name was used with a slightly different spelling, as Martin Sheen’s presidential character in ‘West Wing.’

6. The Fourth of July wasn’t made a federal holiday until 1870

Even though Fourth of July celebrations have occurred for many years, it wasn’t made an unpaid federal holiday until 1870. It wasn’t until 1941 when the holiday was added to the list of paid holidays for federal employees.

7. The first Fourth of July fireworks were in 1777

The first Fourth of July fireworks were set off on July 4, 1777. On this day, fireworks were lit in Philadelphia and Boston. Over the years, setting off fireworks has become a popular Fourth of July tradition with displays all across the country.

8. The oldest Fourth of July parade is in the smallest state

Bristol, Rhode Island, is home to the oldest Fourth of July parade in the country. The first ever Bristol Fourth of July parade was in 1785. 

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley warned of China’s ramped up military aggression on Sunday, saying the country is ahead of the U.S. in key aspects.

The former South Carolina governor, appearing on ‘Fox News Sunday,’ blasted the Biden administration for prioritizing a woke agenda for the U.S. military even as China is ‘preparing for war.’ She argued that a responsible U.S. administration would work to counter China’s growth both economically and militarily.

‘China has been preparing for war with us for decades. And the way we have to deal with China is [to] not look at it tomorrow, because if we keep waiting to deal with them tomorrow, they will deal with us today,’ Haley told host Shannon Bream.

‘If you look at the military situation, they now have the largest naval fleet in the world. They have 340 ships, we have 293. They’re going to have 400 In two years, we won’t even have 350 in two decades. They have started developing hypersonic missiles. We’re just now getting started. They are modernizing their military, our military’s taking gender pronoun classes,’ she continued. ‘Look at what they’re doing on cyber, artificial intelligence, space – they’re ahead of us.’

Haley has been a consistent voice in calling for the U.S. to address the Chinese threat more directly. The former U.N. ambassador gave a speech on the issue last week, saying China is the ‘most dangerous foreign threat we’ve faced since the Second World War.’

She went on to detail China’s economic aggression on American soil, saying she would put an end to China buying up U.S. farmland. She also said she would cut off normal economic ties with China in order to halt the flow of fentanyl across the U.S.-Mexico border if necessary.

‘China is much more than a mere ‘competitor.’ Communist China is an enemy,’ she said. ‘We have to stop wasting time.’

Haley is currently polling at 3% in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, though she expressed confidence on Sunday that those numbers would change by the fall.

‘We can look at past presidential elections and understand that national polls just don’t matter right now,’ she said when Bream pressed her on the topic. ‘I mean, we’ve got a debate in August. We’ve got a debate in September. We’ve got a debate in October. I have qualified to be on the debate stage. Having been 3% in a five-way governor’s race, I know that this is all about hard work.’

President Biden is facing backlash from conservatives following a report that his aides have been told to say publicly that he only has six grandchildren, omitting Hunter Biden’s 4-year-old estranged daughter.

The president’s son, Hunter Biden, settled his child support case in Arkansas last week, ending a years-long paternity dispute over his 4-year-old daughter, whom both the president and the first lady refuse to acknowledge as their seventh grandchild.

Announced in a court filing on Thursday, Hunter agreed to give his daughter some of his paintings, and the mother of the child, Lunden Alexis Roberts, agreed to withdraw her counterclaim to change their child’s last name to ‘Biden.’

The New York Times released a damning report Saturday saying the family dispute is rooted in ‘money, corrosive politics and what it means to have the Biden birthright.’

White House aides have been told during strategy meetings that the president and first lady Jill Biden have six, not seven, grandchildren, two people familiar with the discussions told the newspaper.

In April, Biden listed six of his grandchildren by name during a ‘take your child to work day’ event at the White House.

‘I have six grandchildren, and I’m crazy about them. And I speak to them every single day. Not a joke,’ he said at the time.

Biden has also put up Christmas stockings at the White House for six of the grandchildren, but has repeatedly left his seventh grandchild out of the annual tradition.

But as Biden seeks re-election in 2024 and as the speculation into Hunter’s foreign business dealings ramps up, the president has decided to more publicly embrace his son, Hunter, and grandson, Beau, bringing them to Camp David for the last two weekends in a row.

Last month, the Justice Department announced that the president’s son had entered a plea agreement regarding two tax violations and a felony gun charge, which will likely keep him out of jail. 

Conservatives on Twitter called the claims in the Times report that the Bidens are shunning their granddaughter ‘gross’ and ‘sad.’

The White House didn’t immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Democratic ‘Squad’ member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., slammed the U.S. Supreme Court for what she called an ‘abuse of power’ Sunday, following landmark decisions this past week rejecting affirmative action and Biden’s student loan debt plan. She proposed impeachment and subpoenas be put into play in order to limit the justices’ power. 

‘The Supreme Court is far overreaching their authority,’ Ocasio-Cortez said on CNN’s ‘State of the Union.’

‘And I believe, frankly, that we really need to be having conversations about judicial review as a check on the courts as well,’ she added.

The Supreme Court issued the last decisions of its term this past week, among them rejecting the use of race as a factor in admissions, ruling in favor of a Christian web designer who refuses to make a same-sex wedding websites, and striking down President Biden’s student loan debt cancellation plan. Democrats have considered the rulings to be attacks on the left, denouncing the court as ‘illegitimate.’ 

‘These are the types of rulings that signal a dangerous creep toward authoritarianism and centralization of power in the courts,’ Ocasio-Cortez said Sunday. ‘In fact, we have members of the court themselves with Justice Elena Kagan saying that the court is beginning to assume the power of a legislature.’

Ocasio-Cortez has been a vocal proponent for court-packing and limiting the court’s power, going as far as to tell CNN’s Dana Bash that subpoenas and impeachment should be placed on the table for consideration. 

‘And so I believe that if Chief Justice Roberts will not come before Congress for an investigation voluntarily, I believe that we should be considering subpoenas,’ the Democrat representative said. ‘We should be considering investigations. We must pass much more binding and stringent ethics guidelines where we see members of the Supreme Court potentially breaking the law, as we saw in the refusal with Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from cases implicating his wife in Jan. 6.’

‘There also must be impeachment on the table. We have a broad level of tools to deal with misconduct, overreach and abuse of power, and the Supreme Court has not been receiving the adequate oversight necessary in order to preserve their own legitimacy,’ she continued. ‘And in the process, they themselves have been destroying the legitimacy of the court, which is profoundly dangerous for our entire democracy.’

Unlike Ocasio-Cortez, the president recently clarified his position against expanding the court during an interview on MSNBC on Thursday. Biden said progressive efforts to expand the Supreme Court would ‘politicize it maybe forever in a way that is not healthy.’

‘And I think, look, I think maybe it’s just the optimist in me. I think that some of the court are beginning to realize their legitimacy is being questioned in ways that had not been questioned in the past,’ he continued.

AOC did, however, make headlines shortly after the Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling, after she suggested the high court isn’t serious about its ‘ludicrous ‘colorblindness’ claims’ or else it would have ‘abolished’ legacy admissions.

Ocasio-Cortez shared her thoughts on the ruling on Twitter, noting that ‘70% of Harvard’s legacy applicants are white’ and that the Supreme Court ‘didn’t touch that – which would have impacted them and their patrons.’

Many social media users were quick to call the congresswoman out, saying that the issue of legacy admissions – the practice of giving preference to children of alumni. – was not before the court.

Fox News’ Brianna Herlihy and Kyle Morris contributed to this report. 

Several major pieces of legislation went into effect on Saturday, July 1, impacting education, policing, abortion, and drug use.

Red states and blue states have both made some significant changes. Here is a roundup of some of the most impactful laws now being enforced across the country.

FLORIDA

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation at a breakneck pace following the end of Florida’s legislative session this spring, building a launching pad for his presidential run.

The most major new laws impact education, gender issues, immigration and abortion, with one bill banning ‘instruction in acquired immune deficiency syndrome, sexually transmitted diseases, or health education’ until students are in sixth grade or older.

The legislation prompted anger from Democrats who pointed out that girls can start getting their period before entering sixth grade.

Another new bill bans school staff both from asking students their preferred pronouns and providing their own if they don’t align with their biological gender. A similar bill makes it illegal for a person to enter a bathroom that doesn’t correspond with their biological gender.

The state’s six-week restriction on abortion also went into effect on Saturday after DeSantis, in April, signed Florida’s bill, which prohibits most abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected.

Florida lawmakers also moved to bolster DeSantis’ immigration enforcement, with new laws taking effect this week that grant more funding to the governor’s immigration relocation program. The state has also introduced new penalties for companies that hire illegal immigrant workers.

MARYLAND

A Maryland law legalizing the recreational use of marijuana wen to into effect on Saturday.

The state is now the 21st in the country to make such a move. The legislation requires users to be 21 years or older and in possession of a government ID. They also must only use the marijuana in their private residences.

CALIFORNIA:

Criminals in California can now move to have their records sealed after completing their sentences as long as they do not re-offend within four years.

The new law, approved in March, has carve-outs for certain crimes. Those convicted of sex offenses and serious violent crimes are not allowed to have their records sealed.

The convictions will remain visible to law enforcement if the convict ever re-offends or has other contact with the justice system, but employers, landlords and educators will not have access to the information.

California is the eighth state in the U.S. to pass a so-called ‘clean slate’ law.

Another California bill allows residents to sue gun manufacturers and sellers who offer banned products in the state, such as so-called ‘assault weapons’ and ghost guns.

The state also acted to make Juneteenth an official California state holiday.

MINNESOTA:

A Minnesota law banning no-knock warrants went into effect on Saturday, coming as a result of the death of 22-year-old Amir Locke last year.

Locke was killed in a no-knock police raid in downtown Minneapolis, with an officer shooting him three times within seconds of entering an apartment. Locke, who was sleeping on a couch at the time, was not listed in the warrant.

Locke’s family has sued the city after prosecutors declined to press charges on the officer who fired the shots.

NORTH CAROLINA:

North Carolina legislators passed further restrictions on abortion access and cracked down on the trading of the abortion drug mifepristone.

The state’s abortion limit went from 20 weeks to 12 on Saturday, becoming the latest state to take advantage of the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper had vetoed the legislation earlier this year, but the Republican-held legislature overrode the move.

The new law provides exceptions for up to 20 weeks for cases of rape and incest, and 24 weeks if a doctor determines the mother’s life is in danger.

A new law expands where residents with a permit can carry concealed firearms also went into effect.

NEVADA:

Nevada is now enforcing a heavy crackdown on drunken driving, spiking penalties for those who cause substantial bodily injury when driving while intoxicated.

One of the new laws opens up DUI convicts to punitive damages from anyone injured in a crash. Another bill cranks up the maximum sentence for causing injuries while drunken driving. Those convicted of the crime now face a sentence of 20 years, up from just six. An additional seven years can be added on if the driving incident took place in a school zone.

GEORGIA:

Last but not least is Georgia. The state has begun enforcing a ban on downloading TikTok onto state-owned devices.

Another new state law bans doctors from administering any gender transition services such as hormone therapy or surgery to minors.

Finally, the state also amended its Georgia Smoke Free Air Act to include a ban on vaping and using other electronic smoking devices in ‘enclosed areas in places of employment.’

President Biden is expected to meet with King Charles III and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak next week before heading to Lithuania to attend the NATO summit during a pivotal time in the Russia-Ukraine war, the White House announced Sunday. 

Biden is scheduled to travel to the United Kingdom, Lithuania and Finland from July 9-13, with his first stop in London. The president will partake in several engagements with King Charles and Sunak ‘to further strengthen the close relationship between our nations,’ according to a White House statement credited to press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Biden will then travel to Vilnius, Lithuania, from July 11- 12 for the 74th NATO summit, and is scheduled to visit Helsinki, Finland, for a U.S.-Nordic leaders summit just one day later. The White House said additional details related to the president’s travels will be announced at a later date. 

‘The prime minister looks forward to welcoming the U.S. President Biden in the U.K. later this month,’ a 10 Downing Street spokesperson told Fox News Digital. ‘This reflects the strong relationship between the U.K. and U.S., building on a series of bilateral visits and meetings earlier this year. We’ll set out further detail in due course.’

Biden met with Sunak at the White House in early June, and the leaders emphasized efforts to strengthen relations between the two allies. Biden and Sunak announced a new economic partnership called the Atlantic Declaration, in Sunak’s first visit to D.C. since assuming the prime minister role in October. 

Biden said the plan ‘outlines how we can enhance our cooperation to accelerate the clean energy transition that must take place and is taking place, lead the development of emerging technologies that are going to shape so much of our future and protect technologies critical to our national security.’ 

Speaking alongside him, Sunak described the partnership as ‘a new economic partnership for a new age of a kind that has never been agreed before’ and ‘a test case for the kind of re-imagined alliances President Biden has spoken so eloquently about.’ 

In May, Biden did not attend King Charles’ coronation, with first lady Jill Biden going instead. At the time, the White House commented on Biden’s absence, noting that no U.S. president had attended any of the seven coronations of a British monarch since the country declared independence in 1776. Jean-Pierre emphasized the ‘good relationship’ the president had with the king and assured that he planned to meet with him in the future.

Biden called Charles in September 2022, extending his condolences after the death of the king’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II. The White House released a statement at the time saying Biden and Charles had discussed her memory, with Biden touching upon his visit to the royal family at Windsor Castle the year prior.

The Bidens did jointly attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in London later that same month. 

Fox News’ Michael Lee, Greg Norman, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Caitlin McFall and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Former Attorney General Eric Holder weighed in on if President Biden or the 2024 presidential winner should potentially pardon former President Donald Trump if he is convicted of federal charges. 

‘I think I’d I tell the president, the next attorney general, to let the system do its work. Try the cases, see what the results are. And then treat that convicted president, or anybody else who was convicted, as any other person,’ Holder, who served as AG under the Obama administration, said Sunday on CBS News’ ‘Face the Nation.’

Former President Donald Trump was indicted on federal charges last month related to alleged willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and false statements. Trump pleaded not guilty and dismissed the charges as a ‘witch hunt.’ Trump also pleaded not guilty to state charges in New York in April over accusations of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 election season. 

‘Pardons generally are for people who express remorse and then who have done things that shows that they have turned their lives around,’ Holder continued. 

‘If those kinds of determinations can be made with regard to the former president, or anybody else who was convicted, yeah, I would support that. In the absence of something like that, I don’t think that would be a wise thing to do,’ he concluded. 

Trump, the GOP front-runner for the 2024 election, and Republican allies have slammed the bevy of charges as the latest ‘witch hunt’ leveled against him. 

‘The ridiculous and baseless indictment of me by the Biden administration’s weaponized ‘Department of Injustice’ will go down as among the most horrific abuses of power in the history of our country,’ Trump said last month at the Georgia Republican Convention. ‘This vicious persecution is a travesty of justice.’

‘They’ve launched one witch hunt after another to try and stop our movement,’ he added. ‘They’re not coming after me, they’re coming after you.’

Other Republican candidates who have thrown their hats into the 2024 presidential ring have recently signaled they would likely pardon Trump if he is in fact convicted, and if they win the White House, including Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy and Larry Elder. Other GOP candidates have openly said they would likely not pardon Trump if they are elected, including Chris Christie, Will Hurd and Asa Hutchinson. 

In May, Biden laughed off a question from Fox News’ Peter Doocy regarding whether he would potentially pardon the former president. 

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President Biden has traveled with his son Hunter Biden to Camp David for the second weekend in a row as the president continues to publicly support his embattled son despite concerns it could damage his 2024 re-election chances.

The father and son duo boarded the Marine One helicopter at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., Friday evening and headed to Camp David in Maryland. They were joined by first lady Jill Biden, Hunter’s son Beau and several White House aides, according to pool reports.

The president and first lady will return to the White House from Camp David Tuesday, where they will participate in a teachers’ union event and a military barbecue to celebrate Independence Day, the White House said.

The president has refused to distance himself from his son after the Department of Justice announced June 20 that the younger Biden entered a plea agreement that will likely keep him out of jail over two tax violations and a felony gun charge.

Hunter is expected to make his first court appearance in Wilmington, Delaware, July 26, where a judge must first approve the terms of the agreement.

After the DOJ’s announcement, the White House said the president and first lady ‘love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment.’

Two days later, Hunter was seen hobnobbing with guests at the White House official state dinner in honor of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi June 22.

On June 24, Hunter and his son were spotted boarding Marine One at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

The next day, Hunter was photographed boarding Marine One with his father at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington en route to Camp David for the weekend.

Conservatives also ripped the president for the second Camp David trip after the New York Post reported it Saturday.

‘How else are they going to keep their stories straight?’ Jonathan Wilcox, a spokesperson for Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., mused in a text to Fox News Digital.

The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

A handful of 2024 Republican presidential candidates made the Sunday morning cable news rounds expressing their support for the controversial trio of Supreme Court decisions handed down last week that have prompted calls from the left for ‘packing’ the court.

In a matter of two days, the Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action policies in college admissions, against President Biden’s student loan bailout and in favor of a graphic designer’s free speech right to refuse creating wedding websites for same-sex couples.

Former Vice President Mike Pence voiced support for all three Supreme Court decisions during an appearance on CBS’ ‘Face the Nation.’

‘From the moment the Supreme Court recognized a same-sex marriage, the court had made a commitment that they would still respect the freedom of religion and the freedom of conscience of every American,’ he said, referring to the web designer case.

On the affirmative action case, Pence argued that what may have been a necessary solution to discrimination on college campuses in the 1960s is no longer needed in today’s environment.

‘It’s a great, great credit to the extraordinary accomplishments that minority students have had on our campuses,’ he said. ‘And I really do believe that we can move forward as a country and embrace the notion that we’re all going to be judged not on the color of our skin but on the content of our character and, in this case, on our GPA.’

On the student loan decision, Pence echoed conservative sentiments that the president’s plan would have unfairly hurt working people.

‘The majority of people that would have benefited from this student loan forgiveness are people with multiple graduate degrees,’ he said. ‘So you’re going to say to working Americans, to truck drivers, to people working in the trades, ‘We’re going to take your taxes and pay down part of the student debt of doctors and lawyers and Ph.D.s.”

Former U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley told ‘Fox News Sunday’ the web designer case was a ‘fantastic win for individual liberty and freedom.’

‘First of all, the Democrats are upset because things didn’t go their way, but the people won. This is about empowering people in their rights,’ she said. ‘Gay people have the right to marry the same way a web designer has the right to say, according to their religion, they don’t want to do it. So, the people won in these cases.’

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ the decision in the web designer case is being mischaracterized as being discriminatory against LGBTQ people.

‘This business has no right not to serve people who are a protected class,’ he argued. ‘But by the same token, the government doesn’t have the right to tell a business the nature of how they need to use their expressive abilities. And so the fact is that this business can’t deny LGBTQ people, couples from coming in and trying to, you know, access this business. That’s not the case at all. It’s a mischaracterization of it.’

Former Rep. Will Hurd of Texas said on ‘State of the Union’ that the high court’s ruling in the web designer case made him ‘uncomfortable’ but that speech must be protected regardless.

‘This was about protecting a person’s ability to express themselves,’ he said. ‘And I’ll be frank: This decision makes me uncomfortable because we’re protecting speech that I don’t agree with, and I don’t agree personally with anti-LGBTQ sentiment. But we have to be protecting the speech even if we don’t like or agree with that speech. That’s a foundational element in our country.’

Progressives have renewed their calls to expand or ‘pack’ the composition of the Supreme Court and impose terms for justices after the court’s decision Thursday in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and its decisions Friday in Biden v. Nebraska and 303 Creative LLC. v. Elenis.

In Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the Supreme Court handed down a 6-3 decision rejecting the use of race as a factor in college admissions as a violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.

In 303 Creative LLC. v. Elenis, the Supreme Court held in a 6-3 decision that Lorie Smith, a Christian web designer, has a First Amendment right to refuse to create wedding websites for same-sex marriages if it conflicts with her religious beliefs.

In Biden v. Nebraska, the Supreme Court ruled that Biden’s plan to cancel more than $430 billion in student loan debt was unconstitutional, prompting the president to claim the court ‘misinterpreted the Constitution.’