Research Guides: The Constitution of the United States of America: Welcome

The U.S. Constitution

The U.S. Constitution established America's national government and fundamental laws, and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens. It was signed on September 17, 1787, by delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

The Constitution of the United States of America

Constitution Day commemorates the formation and signing of the U.S. Constitution by thirty-nine brave men on September 17, 1787, recognizing all who, whether born in the U.S. or by naturalization, have become citizens.

Amendments
The American Constitution: A Documentary Record
The Avalon Project
Constitution Day
Constitution of the U.S.
Interactive Constitution
On this site, constitutional experts interact with each other to explore the Constitution’s history and what it means today.

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For each provision of the Constitution, scholars of different perspectives discuss what they agree upon, and what they disagree about. These experts were selected with the guidance of leaders of two prominent constitutional law organizations—The American Constitution Society and The Federalist Society. This project is sponsored by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation.
A More Perfect Union: The Creation of the U.S. Constitution
Writing the U.S. Constitution
U.S. Constitution
Authenticated text of the Constitution, U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2016

Predecessors to the U.S. Constitution

Center for the Study of the American Constitution.
The Center for the Study of the American Constitution (CSAC) is a resource for “scholars, educators, and students who are interested in the American Constitution in its historical context.”
Albany Plan of Union (1754)
The Albany Plan of Union was a plan to create a unified government for the Thirteen Colonies, suggested by Benjamin Franklin, then a senior leader (age 45) and a delegate from Pennsylvania, at the Albany Congress on July 10, 1754 in Albany, New York.
Articles of Association (October 20, 1774)
The Continental Association, often known simply as the "Association", was a system created by the First Continental Congress in 1774 for implementing a trade boycott with Great Britain.The boycott became operative on December 1, 1774.
Lee Resolution (1776)
On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed independence for the American colonies by introducing this resolution in the Second Continental Congress.

On June 11, 1776, the Congress appointed three concurrent committees in response to the Lee Resolution: one to draft a declaration of independence, a second to draw up a plan "for forming foreign alliances," and a third to "prepare and digest the form of a confederation." Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston were appointed to a committee to draft a declaration of independence.

On June 28, A fair copy of the committee draft of the Declaration of Independence was read in Congress.

On July 1-4, Congress debated and revised the Declaration of Independence.

On July 2, Congress declared independence by adopting the Lee Resolution.
Articles of Confederation (1777)
An agreement among the thirteen original states, approved in 1781, that provided a loose federal government before the present Constitution went into effect in 1789.

National Constitution Center

National Constitution Center
Located on Independence Mall in Philadelphia, the National Constitution Center serves as America’s leading platform for constitutional education and debate, fulfilling our congressional charter “to disseminate information about the United States Constitution on a nonpartisan basis in order to increase awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.”