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Celebrating Constitution Day September 17

Consitution Day, September 17, 2005 On Dec. 8, 2004, President George W. Bush signed a bill (public law 108-447) that designates every Sept. 17 as Constitution Day. The date is significant because on Sept. 17, 1787 the delegates to the Constitutional Convention met for the last time to sign the constitution they had created. Click on the following links to learn more about the U.S. Constitution from the many resources available through the Miller Center.

In the Library

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In the Library

Books

To begin the world anew: the genius and ambiguities of the American founders / by Bernard Bailyn. New York : Knopf, 2003. SCS Miller Center Main Collection E302.1 .B16 2003

Lincoln 's Constitution / Daniel Farber. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2003. SCS Miller Center Main Collection E457.2 .F216 2003

Magna Carta: manuscripts and myths / Claire Breay. London : British Library, 2002. SCS Miller Center Main Collection KD3946 .B72 2002x

What kind of nation: Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, and the epic struggle to create a United States / James F. Simon. New York : Simon & Schuster, c2002. SCS Miller Center Main Collection KF4541 .S53 2002

Constitutionalism and American culture: writing the new constitutional history / edited by Sandra F. VanBurkleo, Kermit L. Hall, and Robert J. Kaczorowski ; foreword by Stanley N. Katz. Lawrence , Kan. : University Press of Kansas, c2002. SCS Miller Center Main Collection KF4541 .C5895 2002

How democratic is the American Constitution? / Robert A. Dahl. New Haven : Yale University Press, c2001. SCS Miller Center Main Collection KF4550 .D34 2001

Our secret constitution: how Lincoln redefined American democracy / George P. Fletcher. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, c2001. SCS Miller Center Main Collection E457.2 .F57 2001

The velvet coup: the Constitution, the Supreme Court, and the decline of American democracy / Daniel Lazare. London ; New York : Verso, 2001. SCS Miller Center Main Collection JK31 .L39 2001

Constitutions of the world /Robert L. Maddex. Washington , D.C. : CQ Press, c2001. SCS Miller Center Reference K3157.E5 M33 2001x

Freedom and time : a theory of constitutional self-government / Jed Rubenfeld. New Haven: Yale University Press, c2001. SCS Miller Center Main Collection JC585 .R82 2001

Vindicating the founders: race, sex, class, and justice in the origins of America / Thomas G. West. Lanham , Md. : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2001, c1997. SCS Miller Center Main Collection E302.1 .W47 2001

Abraham Lincoln: a constitutional biography / George Anastaplo. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, c1999. SCS Miller Center Main Collection E457.2 .A54 1999

Controlling the state: constitutionalism from ancient Athens to today / Scott Gordon. Cambridge , Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1999. SCS Miller Center Main Collection JF229 .G67 1999

Negotiating the Constitution: the earliest debates over original intent / Joseph M. Lynch. Ithaca , N.Y. : Cornell University Press, 1999. SCS Miller Center Main Collection KF4510 .L96 1999

An economic interpretation of the Constitution of the United States / Charles A. Beard; with a new introduction by Louis Fuller. New Brunswick , N.J. : Transaction Publishers, c1998. SCS Miller Center Main Collection KF4541 .B317 1998

Abraham Lincoln, constitutionalism, and equal rights in the Civil War era / by Herman Belz. New York : Fordham University Press, 1998. SCS Miller Center Main Collection E457.2 .B38 1998

Free in the world: American slavery and constitutional failure / Mark E. Brandon. Princeton , N.J. : Princeton University Press, c1998. SCS Miller Center Main Collection KF4541 .B684 1998

John Adams and the spirit of liberty / C. Bradley Thompson. Lawrence : University Press of Kansas, c1998. SCS Miller Center Main Collection JC585 .T49 1998

Inventing a nation: Washington, Adams, Jefferson / Gore Vidal. New Haven : Yale University Press, c2003. SCS Miller Center Main Collection E302.1 .V57 2003

Setting the world ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and the American Revolution / John Ferling. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2000. SCS Miller Center Main Collection E302.5 .F46 2000

John Adams: party of one / James Grant. New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005. SCS Miller Center Main Collection E322 .G73 2005

The dynamic Constitution: an introduction to American constitutional law / Richard H. Fallon, Jr. Cambridge , U.K. ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2004. SCS Miller Center Main Collection KF4550 .F35 2004

The elite consensus: when corporations wield the Constitution / by George Draffan; with a foreword by Richard L. Grossman and Ward Morehouse. New York : Apex Press, 2003. SCS Miller Center Main Collection JK467 .D73 2003

Women and the United States Constitution: history, interpretation, and practice / edited by Sibyl A. Schwarzenbach and Patricia Smith. New York : Columbia University Press, c2003. SCS Miller Center Main Collection KF478.A5 W654 2003

Presidential leadership: rating the best and the worst in the White House / edited by James Taranto and Leonard Leo. New York : Wall Street Journal Books, c2004. SCS Miller Center Main Collection E176.1 .P74 2004

James Madison / Garry Wills. New York : Times Books, 2002. SCS Miller Center Main Collection E342 .W55 2002

James Madison and the creation of the American Republic / Jack N. Rakove ; edited by Oscar Handlin. Glenview , Ill. : Scott, Foresman/Little, Brown Higher Education, c1990. SCS Miller Center Main Collection E342 .R35 1990

Alexander Hamilton / Ron Chernow. New York : Penguin Press, 2004. SCS Miller Center Main Collection E302.6.H2 C48 2004

Alexander Hamilton and the persistence of myth / Stephen F. Knott. Lawrence : University Press of Kansas, c2002. SCS Miller Center Main Collection E302.6.H2 K66 2002

Alexander Hamilton, American / Richard Brookhiser. New York , NY : Free Press, c1999. SCS Miller Center Main Collection E302.6.H2 B76 1999

Liberty and freedom / David Hackett Fischer. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2005. SCS Miller Center Main Collection E169.1 .F539 2005, vol. 3x

The American presidency: origins and development, 1776-2002 / Sidney M. Milkis, Michael Nelson. Washington , D.C. : CQ Press, c2003. SCS Miller Center Main Collection JK511 .M56 2003

Countdown to independence: a revolution of ideas in England and her American colonies: 1760-1776 / by Natalie S. Bober. New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2001. SCS Miller Center Main Collection E210 .B57 2001

Becoming America : the revolution before 1776 / Jon Butler. Cambridge , Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2000. SCS Miller Center Main Collection E188 .B97 2000

Electronic Books (use NetLibrary to access e-books)

Tip: Create a NetLibrary login from an on-campus computer to access from home)

Economic Effects of Constitutions / Torsten Persson, Guido Tabellini. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, c2003. e-book

Daily Life During the American Revolution / Dorothy Volo, James Volo. Greenwood Publishing Group, c. 2003. e-book

Jefferson 's Pillow: The Founding Fathers and the Dilemma of Black Patriotism / Roger Wilkins. Boston Beacon Press, c. 2002. e-book

Representing Popular Sovereignty: The Constitution in American Political Culture / Daniel Levin. Albany State University of New York Press, c1999. e-book

Our Elusive Constitution: Silences, Paradoxes, Priorities / Daniel Hoffman. Albany State University of New York Press, c. 1997. e-book

The Bill of Rights: A Bicentennial Assessment / Gary Bryner. Provo , Utah State University of New York Press, c. 1994. e-book

The Constitution, the Law and Freedom of Expression, 1787-1987 / James Stewart. Carbondale Southern Illinois University Press, c.1987 e-book

To find more books, try the following Library of Congress subject headings:

On the Web

Text and Images of United States Constitution

America 's Historical Documents (http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/)

Constitution of the United States (1787) image from OurDocuments.gov (http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=9)

Making of the U.S. Constitution: Transcription of the Introduction and the U.S. Constitution from the First Volume of the Annals of Congress from the Library of Congress (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/ac001/lawpres.html)

Other Primary Documents

Continental Congress Broadside Collection (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/bdsds/bdsdhome.html) and Constitutional Broadside Collection (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/bdsds/consconv.html)

Journals of the Continental Congress (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwjc.html)

Primary Documents in American History: United States Constitution from the Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Constitution.html)

Who's the Father of the Constitution? Library of Congress Wise Guide (http://www.loc.gov/wiseguide/may05/constitution.html)

The James Madison Papers from the Library of Congress (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/madison_papers/)

The Federalist Papers from Thomas.gov and Project Gutenberg (http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fedpapers.html)

Databases

Congressional Quarterly Press: In Context

Celebrating Constitution Day

Includes background on Constitution, lesson plans, Pro/Con Debates on Constitutional Issues, Government Powers, and Constitutional Factoids and more.

Lesson Plans

Teaching with Documents: Observing Constitution Day from National Archives and Records Administration (http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/constitution-day/)

In Congress Assembled: Continuity and Change in Governing of the United States from Library of Congress (Teacher Lesson Plans) (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/lessons/constitu/conintro.html)

A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional documents and Debates: 1774-1873 from Library of Congress (Teacher Lesson Plans) (http://memory.loc.gov/learn/collections/law/)

The Constitution: Counter Revolution or National Salvation? from Library of Congress (Teacher Lesson Plans) (http://memory.loc.gov/learn/lessons/broad/intro.html)

Other Websites

Celebrating Constitution Day ( http://www.constitutionday.us)

Constitution Day, Inc. (http://constitutionday.com/)

Constitution Fast Facts from National Constitution Center (http://www.constitutioncenter.org/explore/FastFacts/index.shtml)

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