Research Guides: Government Information: U.S. Constitution

Constitution Day

In Celebration of Constitution Day : September 17

On September 17, 1787, the United States Constitution was signed by 39 of the 55 delegates attending the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Delegates from 12 states had gathered at the Convention with the purpose of revising the nation's first written charter, the Articles of Confederation. Instead, they discarded the nation's first system of government and created a new one they believed would provide the United States with a strong national government to deal with the many challenges of the Confederation. The Constitution was subsequently ratified by each of the original 13 states.

In 2004, Congress designated September 17 as a day to commemorate the Constitution.

To find out more about our Constitution:

Use the Classic Catalog or SUMMON to locate resources like:

Author: Fritz, Christian
Title: American sovereigns: the people and America's Constitutional tradition before the Civil War
Published: New York. : Cambridge University Press, c2008.
Location: Bird-4th Floor
Call Number: KF4881 .F75 2008

Author: Ritter, Gretchen
Title: The Constitution as social design: gender and civic membership in the American constitutional order
Published: Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 2006.
Location: Bird-4th Floor
Call Number: HQ1236.5.U6 R57 2006

Title: Constitutionalism and American culture : writing the new constitutional history
Published: Lawrence, Kan. : University Press of Kansas, c2002.
Location: Bird-4th Floor
Call Number: KF4541 .C5895 2002

Author: Cooke, Edward Francis, 1923-
Title: A detailed analysis of the Constitution
Edition: 7th ed.
Published: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, c2002.
Location: Bird-4th Floor
Call Number: KF4550.Z9 C676 2002

Author: Fallon, Richard H., 1952-
Title: The dynamic Constitution : an introduction to American constitutional law
Published: Cambridge, U.K. ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Location: Bird-4th Floor
Call Number: KF4550 .F35 2004

Title: Encyclopedia of the American Constitution
Edition: 2nd ed.
Published: New York : Macmillan Reference USA, c2000.
Location: Bird-Reference, 2nd Floor (does not circulate)
Call Number: KF4548 .E53 2000

Title: The First Amendment project[video recording]
Published: [New York, N.Y.] : Docurama : Sundance Channel Home Entertainment : Distributed by New Video Group, c2005.
Location: Bird-4th Floor, Videos
Call Number: Video DVD 12077

Author: Lewis, Anthony
Title: Freedom for the thought that we hate: a biography of the First Amendment
Published: New York : Basic Books, c2007.
Location: Bird-4th Floor
Call Number: KF4770.L49 2007

Author: Lidsky, Lyrissa Barnett, 1968-
Title: Freedom of the press: a reference guide to the United States Constitution
Published: Westport, Conn. : Praeger, 2004.
Location: Bird-4th Floor
Call Number: KF4774.L53 2004

Author: Blau, Judith R., 1942-
Title: Justice in the United States : human rights and the U.S. constitution
Published: Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, c2006.
Location: Bird-4th Floor
Call Number: K3240.B59 2006

Title: Key Constitutional Concepts[video recording]
Published: [Philadelphia?] : Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands, c2006.
Location: Bird-4th Floor, Videos
Call Number: Video DVD 12645

Title: Our Constitution [video recording] : a conversation
Published: [Philadelphia?] : Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands, c2005.
Location: Bird-4th Floor, Videos
Call Number: Video DVD 12644

Author: Lieberman, Jethro Koller.
Title: A practical companion to the Constitution: how the Supreme Court has ruled on issues from abortion to zoning
Published: Berkeley : University of California Press, c1999.
Location: Bird-Reference, 2nd Floor (does not circulate)
Call Number: KF4548 .L54 1999

Author: Stewart, David O.
Title: The summer of 1787: the men who invented the Constitution
Published: New York : Simon & Schuster, c2007.
Location: Bird-4th Floor
Call Number: KF4510 .S74 2007

Author: Hennessey, Jonathan.
Title: The United States Constitution : a graphic adaptation
Published: New York : Hill and Wang, 2008.
Location: Bird-3rd Floor
Call Number: E303.H46 2008

Web resources for the US Constitution

Constitution Annotated
From the Library of Congress. This site provides a comprehensive overview of how the Constitution has been interpreted over time.
US Constitution Annotated
From the Legal Information Institute at Cornell University from content prepared by the Congressional Research Service(CRS) at the Library of Congress. "This edition is a hypertext interpretation of the CRS text. It links to Supreme Court opinions, the U.S. Code, and the Code of Federal Regulations, as well as enhancing navigation through linked footnotes and tables of contents."
Interactive Constitution
Lets you search the Constitution by keyword, topic, and Supreme Court decisions.
US Constitution & Declaration of Independence
Pocket size guide to the Constitution in a PDF file
Primary Documents in American History
Links to a variety of online resources including items in the American Memory Historical Collections (e.g., Max Farrand's The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention Broadsides Collection), exhibitions, "Today in History", external web sites, and selected bibliographies.

Links

The Constitution at the National Archives
View high resolution images of the original, signed Constitution and obtain a transcription of the document. Read about the history of the Constitution including details of the Constitutional Convention and biographical information about each of the signers of the Constitution.
Constitution of the US - Government Printing Office
Links to the latest edition of "The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation: Annotations of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States" in a .PDF format.
Constitution - Analysis, and Interpretation
Analysis, and Interpretation - this site coordinates with the above entry.

Database sources

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
Abstracts and indexing of journal literature in political science, international relations, law, and public administration/policy.
America: History & Life This link opens in a new window
America: History and Life is the definitive index of literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. With indexing for 1,700 journals from 1964 to present, this database is without question the most important bibliographic reference tool for students and scholars of U.S. and Canadian history. The database also includes citations and links to book and media reviews. Strong English-language journal coverage is balanced by an international perspective on topics and events, including abstracts in English of articles published in more than 40 languages.
PAIS Index
This database chronicles issues in the public debate through highly selective coverage of a wide variety of sources including journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference papers, publications of international agencies, microfiche, Internet material and more. The database includes a historical perspective on many of the 20th century's social and public policies such as Prohibition, the civil rights movement, McCarthyism, Vietnam and Watergate.