On November 7, 1916, Montana suffragist Jeannette Rankin 
was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She is the
first woman in the history of the nation to win a seat in the
federal Congress.

Jeannette Pickering Rankin (June 11, 1880 – May 18, 1973)

On September 30, 1822, Joseph Marion Hernández became
the first person of Hispanic descent to be elected to the
United States Congress.

Born a Spanish citizen, Hernández would die in Cuba, but in
between he became the first Hispanic American to serve at
the highest levels of any of three branches of the American
federal government.

Hernández later served as Mayor of St. Augustine before
retiring to Cuba, where he died in 1857.

The first Congress of the United States approved 12
amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and sent them
to the states for ratification.

The amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were
designed to protect the basic rights of U.S. citizens,
guaranteeing the freedom of speech, press, assembly,
and exercise of religion; the right to fair legal procedure
and to bear arms; and that powers not delegated to the
federal government were reserved for the states and
the people.

Influenced by the English Bill of Rights of 1689, the Bill
of Rights was also drawn from Virginia’s Declaration of
Rights, drafted by George Mason in 1776.

First page of an original copy of the twelve proposed
articles of amendment, as passed by Congress.

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1776, the Continental
Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, which
proclaimed the independence of the United States of America
from Great Britain and its king.

The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, granting
women the right to vote, was passed by Congress and
sent to the states for ratification.