This is a facsimile of the United States Constitution printed on genuine animal skin parchment. This document was printed on sheepskin parchment made in Montgomery, New York, in the historic Hudson River Valley. This parchment was produced by hand by Jesse Meyer, a living relative of John Adams and Samuel Adams. James Madison, considered the Father of the Constitution, wrote, “The happy Union of these States is a wonder: their Constitution a miracle..." The Constitution lays out the structure of the U.S. Government in the form of the three branches, their organization, and the powers granted to each. At 4,440 words and only four pages, it is the oldest and shortest written Constitution of any major government in the world. The U.S. Constitution was signed on September 17th, 1787, at what is now Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Around 50 years later, the Meyer family namesake arrived in Philadelphia from Germany, bringing their leather tanning craft legacy to the United States.