Legislative and executive documents, many originating from the important period between 1789 and the beginning of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set in 1817
Papers of many of the founders: including John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Dolley Madison, James Madison, and the documentary history of the ratification of the Constitution.
Primary source documents gathered and posted by Yale Law School, from The Magna Carta to the Mayflower Compact to Ratification of the Constitution by the States.
Digitized primary sources related to the creation, ratification, and amendment of the Constitution. Fully searchable but also browsable by theme, section, amendment, and clause.
Hamilton, Jay, and Madison ("Publius") explain and advocate for the Constitution. Digitized version from Project Gutenberg.
The Founders' Constitution by edited by Philip B. Kurland and Ralph Lerner
Call Number: CC Ref KF4502 .F68 1987 v. 1-5
ISBN: 0226463877
Availability and more information from Catalyst...
Political theory, legal, and historical documents influencing the Constitutional framers, and those they produced.
- The free online version does not have complete content but is useful for index, overview of content, search.
A variety of documents collated by the Library of Congress about the Constitution, including but not limited to:
- Farrand's Records
- Elliot's Debates
- links to the papers of Madison, Washington, and Jefferson.
(Searches through citations and the full text)
One of the core U.S. government publications, with Congressional records from 1817-1994. Also *the* primary source for executive branch reports, treaties, statements, maps and more from the 1800s.
The Supreme Court's guide to locating oral argument transcripts and recordings. It includes print and electronic sources available from subscription databases, internet sources, and document retrieval services.