Constitution Day
United States Constitution
- Articles of Confederation (FindLaw)
- Full text of the first Constitution, effective 1781.
- Constitution (via Cornell Law School)
- Original text of Constitution with hyperlinks to amendments.
- Constitution of the United States Annotated (GPO Access)
- Constitution and Amendments annotated with references to Supreme Court cases as of 1992.
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Historic Records
- Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution
- Debates and background materials on the adoption of the Federal Constitution in the State Conventions. Searchable and browsable by state.
- Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights: Slavery (Univ. of South Carolina)
- Text of the slavery debate during the ratification of the Constitution. Primarily newspaper excerpts from the period.
- Federalist Papers
- Letters and news articles written by Jay, Hamilton and Madison on the provisions of the Constitution. Used widely for interpretation of the Constitution. Searchable and browsable.
- Anti-Federalist Papers
- Calls for major revisions.
- FindLaw Constitution Law Center
- Detailed annotations on legal cases interpreting each article and amendment to the Constitution. Includes Articles of Confederation and biographies of Founding Fathers.
- Records of the Federal Convention
- Plans and letters as well as notes taken by James Madison at the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
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Celebrate Constitution Day
- Constitution Day (National Archives)
- View high resolution scans of the original, signed Constitution; obtain a transcription of the document; read an essay about the Constitutional convention; learn dozens of fascinating facts about the Constitution; find out about the 39 delegates who signed the Constitution on September 17, 1787.
- Current Events in Context: Constitution Day (CQ Press)
- Site contains lesson plans for teachers, background histories about the Constitution, governmental powers, Pro/Con debates on Constitutional issues from The CQ Researcher and more.
- Professor Dave Rausch's Constitution Day Web Site
- Dr. Rausch and his wife, Librarian Mary Rausch, have put together a great list of links for Constitution Day.