United States Constitution
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.
Library of Congress Web Site | External
Web Sites | Selected Bibliography
A
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 includes notes and letters by many other participants,
as well as the various constitutional plans proposed during
the convention.
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
Contains the first
draft of the report of the Committee of Detail, which
was printed for the delegates at the Constitutional Convention
in early August 1787.
Also includes a broadside announcing that Virginia
had ratified the Constitution on June 25, 1787. 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
Contains a printed copy of the Constitution
with marginal notes by George Washington from September
12, 1787.
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
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.
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.
Jump
Back in Time: The New United States of America Adopted the
Bill of Rights
December 15, 1791
Meet
Amazing Americans: James Madison's Contribution to the Constitution
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.
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.
September
17, 1787
Members of the Constitutional Convention signed the final
draft of the Constitution on September 17, 1787.
October
27, 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.
December
12, 1787
On December 12, 1787, delegates to the Pennsylvania ratifying
convention meeting at the Pennsylvania State House voted
to ratify the Constitution.
December
18, 1787
The New Jersey ratifying caucus approved the Constitution
on December 18, 1787.
January
9, 1788
On January 9, 1788, Connecticut ratified the Constitution,
becoming the fifth state in the Union.
July
26, 1788
On July 26, 1788, the Convention of the State of New
York, meeting in Poughkeepsie, voted to ratify the Constitution.
December
15, 1791
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.
A collection of Constitution
Day resources for teachers from the Library of Congress.
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.
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
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, 2002. [Catalog
Record]
Monk, Linda R. The Words We Live By:
Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution. A Stonesong
Press book. 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]
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]
|
The
Library of Congress >> Especially
for Researchers >> Virtual
Programs & Services
Top
of Page
