CONSTITUTION DAY BIBLIOGRAPHY

Constitution Day is observed each year on September 17 to commemorate the signing of the Constitution on September 17, 1787. Originally entitled Citizenship Day, recent legislation has renamed the day as Constitution and Citizenship Day and mandated that federally funded schools and federal agencies provide instruction and information about the Constitution. 

In celebration of Constitution Day, the Kalamazoo College Library has compiled a variety of materials, including primary source documents and a selected bibliography.

Primary Documents | Websites | Books

PRIMARY DOCUMENTS

Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention (American Memory)
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/continental/
Provides 274 documents related to Congress (1774 to 1788) and the drafting and ratification of the Constitution. Items include the journals of Congress, resolutions, proclamations, committee reports, treaties, and early printed versions of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Among the topics: the armed forces, foreign relations, Indians, land settlement, laws, money, and pirates.

Interactive Constitution
http://www.constitutioncenter.org/constitution/
Lets you search the Constitution and find relevant passages and explanations. Discover how the Constitution relates to more than 300 topics, from civil rights to school prayer, including Supreme Court decisions.

Library of Congress Collection Guides: Primary Documents in American History: U.S. Constitution
http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Constitution.html
Includes links to American Memory historical collections with primary documents created around the time of the Constitution.

Primary Source Documents Pertaining to Early American History
http://www.constitution.org/primarysources/primarysources.html
A list of primary source materials that contributed to the formation of American politics, culture, and ideals

WEBSITES

Bill of Rights Institute
http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/Instructional/Resources/ConstitutionDay/index.htm

Constitution Day Resources (Library of Congress)
http://thomas.loc.gov/teachers/constitution.html

Constitution of the United States of America (National Archives)
http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/constitution.html
Includes high resolution images of the Constitution and other important documents relating to the founding of the United States.

Cornell Law Library: The Constitution
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.overview.html
The full Constitution, in hypertext format.

Constitution Day Resources (Library of Congress)
http://thomas.loc.gov/teachers/constitution.html

Constitution Day: Selected Resources (Law Library of Congress)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/law/constitution-day.html

Constitution Day (National Endowment for the Humanities)
http://edsitement.neh.gov/constitutionday/constitution_index2.html

Constitution Day Resources: State Bar of Michigan
http://www.michbar.org/generalinfo/constitutionday.cfm

Federal Resources for Education Excellence (FREE): U.S. Constitution
http://free.ed.gov/subjects.cfm?subject_id=19&res_feature_request=1

National Constitution Center
http://www.constitutioncenter.org/

National Park Service - Signers of the Constitution (Bibliography)
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/constitution/bibliography.htm

BOOKS

The Constitution of the United States of America: as amended through July 1971. [Text with] analytical index [and] unratified amendments. Presented by Mr. Celler
Reference / 1st Floor: KF4525 1971

Bibliography of original meaning of the United States Constitution / prepared by the faculty and students at the University of San Diego School of Law.
Reference / 1st Floor: KF4546.A1 B53 1988

The Constitution of the United States of America : analysis and interpretation : annotations of cases decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to July 2, 1982 / prepared by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress ; Johnny H. Killian, editor, Leland E. Beck, associate editor.
Reference / 1st Floor: KF4527 .A3 1982

There are thousands of books about the Constitution, its signers, the ideals it embodies, and how it has shaped our world. An Ariadne search by Library of Congress Subject Heading will provide a browsable list of books about the Constitution and its issues.

Search Ariadne by subject:

Constitutional history -- United States
United States. Constitution
United States. Constitutional Convention (1787)
United States -- Constitutional history

For further reading, search MeLCat

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