The U.S. Constitution Spelling Errors

The Constitution was written in 1787 in the manner of the day - in other words, it was written by hand. According to the National Archives, the version we are most familiar with today was penned by Jacob Shallus, a clerk for the Pennsylvania State Assembly. In the document itself are several words which are misspelled. Far from the days of spell checkers and easy edits, these misspellings survive in the document today.

Only one, though, is an obvious mistake. In the list of signatories, the word "Pennsylvania" is spelled with a single N: "Pensylvania." Another misspelling is just as wrong but a common mistake even today: the word "it's" is used in Article 1, Section 10, but the word "its" should have been used.

The most common mistake is the word "choose," spelled "chuse" several times. This is less a mistake than it is an alternate spelling used at the time. The word is found as "chuse" and "chusing."

Finally, at that time, the American spelling of words was inconsistent at best, and several words are spelled in the British manner. These words are "defence," "controul," and "labour." In America, we would today write these words as "defense," "control," and "labor."

Most of the misspellings are in the original document, which was written hastily after the Convention concluded. Aside from one use of British spelling in the Bill of Rights, the amendments are all error-free. The authors of the latter amendments all had the benefit of time to better proofread their work, and the benefit of a standardized American dictionary.