Celebrate Constitution Day!
Resources about the United States Constitution and its history.
Online Books from the Library's Collection
To read one of the ebooks below, click on the link, then click on the name of the collection under where it says "Full text availability."
The Annotated U. S. Constitution and Declaration of IndependenceA Pulitzer Prize-winning historian serves as a guide to these texts, providing historical contexts and offering interpretive commentary.
The Bill of RightsA comprehensive survey of all aspects of the U.S. Bill of Rights; from its origins to its role in modern American history.
The Bill of Rights in Modern AmericaAn expert guide to current debates on individual rights in America.
The Framers' Coup: The Making of the United States ConstitutionAmericans revere their Constitution. However, most of us are unaware how tumultuous and improbable the drafting and ratification processes were. Based on prodigious research and told largely through the voices of the participants, Michael Klarman's The Framers' Coup narrates how the Framers' clashing interests shaped the Constitution--and American history itself.
Madison's Music: On Reading the First AmendmentLegal luminary Burt Neuborne argues that the structure of the First Amendment as well as of the entire Bill of Rights was more intentional than most people realize, beginning with the internal freedom of conscience and working outward to freedom of expression and finally freedom of public association. This design, Neuborne argues, was not to protect discrete individual rights, but to guarantee that the process of democracy continues without disenfranchisement, oppression, or injustice.
Origins of the Bill of RightsIn colonial America, political theory, law, and religion all taught that government was limited. Yet the framing and ratification of the Bill of Rights--in effect a bill of restraints upon the national government--was by no means assured. Levy illuminates the behind-the-scenes maneuverings, public rhetoric, and political motivations that led to each provision.
A Pocket Guide to the US Constitution: What Every American Needs to KnowThis handy guide helps readers understand, quickly and in nontechnical language, the US Constitution. Want to learn about the separation of powers, the emoluments clause, why slaves in colonial America were considered 3/5 of a person, gerrymandering, or why Congressional pay raises are limited? Historian Andrew Arnold provides a simple, non-partisan, line-by-line commentary with concise explanations of the Constitution's meaning and history, offering little known facts and anecdotes about all twenty-seven amendments, and discusses key Supreme Court cases through the ages.
