2025 - The Constitution of the United States - UMD First Year Book - Research Guides at University of Maryland Libraries

Constitution

Constitution of the United States
Webpage about the United States from the U.S. National Archive and Records Administration.
Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774 to 1789
Guide from the Library of Congress that includes digitized versions of key documents for the time between the end of the U.S. Revolutionary War and the signing of the Constitution.
Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation
Read the "Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation" by following this link to the Government Publishing Office's GovInfo site. Constitution Annotated editions and supplements from 1992 forward are available on this page.
The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution
The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution (DHRC) is a thirty-four (34) volume annotated compilation of 70,000+ primary sources materials used by students, scholars, and the public to learn about the historical context of the creation and ratification of the Constitution of the United States.

Additional Reading: What people were saying

Sentinels of federalism : rhetoric and ideology of the Federalist Party in Maryland, 1800-1815
UMCP HBK Maryland Room Maryland Stacks JK2308 .M31 1986a
Federalist Papers: Primary Documents in American History
The Library of Congresses research guide for the Federalist Papers, 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James are considered one of the most important sources for interpreting and understanding the original intent of the Constitution.
The Anti-Federalist Papers
This resource provides audio recordings of the Anti-Federalist Papers, which argued that a strong national federal government like the one proposed in the Constitution threatened the rights of individuals. Although the Anti-Federalists were unable to halt the ratification of the Constitution, they were critical to the creation of the Bill of Rights written during the First Congress.

Books

The Quartet by Joseph J. Ellis
Call Number: JA84.U5 H6813 1989

ISBN: 9780385353403

Publication Date: 2015-05-12

From Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian Joseph J. Ellis, the Quartet is the story of the second founding of the United States and of the men most responsible--George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison during the years between the end of the Revolution and the formation of the federal government
The First Congress by Fergus M. Bordewich
Call Number: JK1059 1st .B67 2016

ISBN: 9781451691931

Publication Date: 2016-02-09

The First Congress tells the dramatic story of the First Federal Congress of 1789 and how Washington, Madison, and their dedicated colleagues struggled to successfully create the government of United States of America.
American Creation by Joseph J. Ellis
Call Number: E302.1 .E44 2007

ISBN: 9780307263698

Publication Date: 2007-10-30

American Creation explores the nation's founding, then emerging philosophies, shifting alliances, and the personal and political foibles of the founding fathers leaders.
The Summer Of 1787 by David O. Stewart
Call Number: KF4510 .S74 2007

ISBN: 9780743286923

Publication Date: 2007-04-10

A true-life suspense story, The Summer of 1787 takes readers into the sweltering room in which delegates struggled for four months to produce the flawed but enduring document that defined the nation, then and now.
Taming Democracy by Terry Bouton
Call Number: E-book

ISBN: 9780195378566

Publication Date: 2009-03-16

Centered on Pennsylvania, the symbolic and logistical center of the United States Revolution, this award-winning book reveals how the war and the events that followed shaped early the course of United States history. The book highlights the contributions made by farmers, weavers, and tailors as well as well known figures, including Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington.