United States Constitution
United States Constitution
United States Constitution (Photo: Library of Congress)
The members of the Constitutional Convention signed the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Constitutional Convention convened in response to dissatisfaction with the Articles of Confederation and the need for a strong centralized government. After four months of secret debate and many compromises, the proposed Constitution was submitted to the states for approval. Although the vote was close in some states, the Constitution was eventually ratified and the new Federal government came into existence in 1789. The Constitution established the U.S. government as it exists today.
American Memory Historical Collections
America's LibraryA Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation
Elliot's Debates is a five-volume collection compiled by Jonathan Elliot in the mid-nineteenth century. The volumes remain the best source for materials about the national government's transitional period between the closing of the Constitutional Convention in September 1787 and the opening of the First Federal Congress in March 1789.
Farrand's Records gathered the documentary records of the Constitutional Convention into four volumes, three of which are included in this online collection, containing the materials necessary to study the workings of the Constitutional Convention. The notes taken at that time by James Madison, and later revised by him, form the largest single block of material other than the official proceedings. The three volumes also include notes and letters by many other participants, as well as the various constitutional plans proposed during the convention such as the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan.
The Making of the U.S. Constitution is a special presentation that provides a brief history of the making of the Constitution followed by the text of the Constitution as originally adopted.
An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera
This collection contains a broadside announcing that Virginia had ratified the Constitutionon June 25, 1787. It also presents a copy of the Constitution that includes Rhode Island's ratification statement from May 29, 1790.
Search this collection to locate additional printed ephemera related to the Constitution.
Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789
Presents an early printed version of the Constitution from 1787. This collection also contains an additional twenty documents from the Constitutional Convention Broadside Collection, including documents relating to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, extracts of proceedings of state assemblies and conventions relating to the ratification of the Constitution, and several essays on ratification. Search on the word "Constitution" to find these broadsides.
This collection contains an essay titled To Form a More Perfect Union that examines American history from 1774 to 1789, including the work of the Constitutional Convention.
George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress
This collection contains a printed copy of the Constitution with marginal notes by George Washington from September 12, 1787. It also includes Washington's copies of the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan.
Search this collection using the words "Constitution" or "Constitutional Convention" to find additional documents, including a copy of the diary Washington kept during the Constitutional Convention.
The James Madison Papers consists of approximately 12,000 items that document the life of the man who came to be known as the "Father of the Constitution." Includes an essay on Madison's role in the Constitutional Convention. Also contains Madison's original notes on debates in the Federal Convention of 1787, Part 1 and Part 2, as well as John C. Payne's copy of Madison's original notes.
Search this collection to locate additional documents related to the Constitution.
The Thomas Jefferson Papers at the Library of Congress
Thomas Jefferson received a copy of the Constitution in November, 1787, while living in France. Beginning on the second page of a letter to James Madison dated December 20, 1787, Jefferson expressed his opinions on the new Constitution, including his belief that a Bill of Rights was needed. This collection also contains Alexander Hamilton's proposals from the Constitutional Convention and Jefferson's notes on the Constitution from 1788.
Search this collection using the words "Constitution" or "Constitutional Convention" to find additional documents on this topic.
Words and Deeds in American History
Presents Alexander Hamilton's notes for a speech proposing a plan of government at the Constitutional Convention.
America's Library
Jump Back in Time: The New United States of America Adopted the Bill of Rights
Meet Amazing Americans: James Madison's Contribution to the Constitution
Exhibitions
American Treasures of the Library of Congress - Report of the Committee of Detail
On July 24, 1787, the Federal Convention appointed a five-man Committee of Detail, chaired by John Rutledge of South Carolina, to prepare a draft constitution that encompassed the results of deliberations up to that point.
American Treasures of the Library of Congress - Report of the Committee of Style
During the Constitutional Convention, the Committee of Style was appointed "to revise the style of, and arrange, the articles which have been agreed to by the House." On September 12, 1787, the Convention ordered copies printed and distributed to the delegates. This copy belonged to James Madison.
This online exhibition offers insights into how the nation's founding documents were forged and the role that imagination and vision played in the unprecedented creative act of forming a self-governing country. The exhibition contains a section on creating the United States Constitution.
The Teachers Page
American Memory Timeline: The United States Constitution
Discusses the Constitutional Convention and links to related documents.
Primary Source Set: The Constitution
This Primary Source Set includes images, documents, maps, sound files and analysis tools to help teach about the United States Constitution.
Today in History
Members of the Constitutional Convention signed the final draft of the Constitution on September 17, 1787.
Known as the Federalist Papers, the first in a series of eighty-five essays by "Publius," the pen name of Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, appeared in the New York Independent Journal on October 27, 1787.
On December 12, 1787, delegates to the Pennsylvania ratifying convention meeting at the Pennsylvania State House voted to ratify the Constitution.
The New Jersey ratifying caucus approved the Constitution on December 18, 1787.
On January 9, 1788, Connecticut ratified the Constitution, becoming the fifth state in the Union.
On July 26, 1788, the Convention of the State of New York, meeting in Poughkeepsie, voted to ratify the Constitution.
The new United States of America adopted the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, confirming the fundamental rights of its citizens on December 15, 1791.
THOMAS
A collection of Constitution Day resources for teachers from the Library of Congress.
Webcasts
Award-winning author and journalist Linda R. Monk discussed her book, The Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution (Hyperion, 2003), at the Library of Congress on April 14, 2003.
External Web Sites
The American Constitution - A Documentary Record, The Avalon Project at Yale Law School
Charters of Freedom, Constitution of the United States, National Archives and Records Administration
Constitution of the United States, Government Printing Office
The Founders' Constitution, University of Chicago Press and the Liberty Fund
Interactive Constitution, National Constitution Center
Our Documents, Constitution of the United States, National Archives and Records Administration
Selected Bibliography
Amar, Akhil Reed. America's Constitution: A Biography. New York: Random House, 2005. [Catalog Record]
Bowen, Catherine Drinker. Miracle at Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention, May to September, 1787. Boston: Little, Brown, 1986. [Catalog Record]
Collier, Christopher, and James Lincoln Collier. Decision in Philadelphia: The Constitutional Convention of 1787. New York: Random House, 1986. [Catalog Record]
Maddex, Robert L., The U.S. Constitution A to Z. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2008. [Catalog Record]
Monk, Linda R. The Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution. New York: Hyperion, 2003. [Catalog Record]
Rakove, Jack N. Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1996. [Catalog Record]
Stewart, David O. The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007. [Catalog Record]
Younger Readers
Banks, Joan. The U.S. Constitution. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2001. [Catalog Record]
Bjornlund, Lydia D. The Constitution and the Founding of America. San Diego, Calif.: Lucent Books, 2000. [Catalog Record]
Collier, Christopher, and James Lincoln Collier. Creating the Constitution, 1787. New York: Benchmark Books, 1999. [Catalog Record]
Faber, Doris, and Harold Faber. We the People: The Story of the United States Constitution Since 1787. New York: Scribner's, 1987. [Catalog Record]
Fritz, Jean. Shh! We're Writing the Constitution. New York: Putnam, 1987. [Catalog Record]
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