Research Guides: Constitution Day: U.S. Constitution Resources

Reference Books

Encyclopedia of the American Constitution, 2nd ed. by Leonard Williams Levy; Kenneth L. Karst; Adam Winkler
Publication Date: 2000
Contains new and updated original articles covering recent concepts (i.e. adoption, race, the Constitution, birthright citizenship) and court cases since 1992 offering comprehensive coverage of all aspects of constitutional law, as well as biographies of people who have had an impact on our government's legal framework (Supreme Court Justices, Presidents, Cabinet Members, Lawyers, and more). Also covers judicial decisions handed down by the Supreme Court.
The Constitution of the United States of America; analysis and interpretation. Annotations of cases decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to June 22, 1964 by United States. , Norman J. Small, Library of Congress. Legislative Reference Service.
Call Number: REF JK1561 .A13 1964
Publication Date: 1964

Books & Videos

America's Constitution: A Biography by Akhil Reed Amar
Call Number: KF4541 .A87 2005
Publication Date: 2005
A Yale Law School professor offers a thought-provoking analysis of the history and tenets of the U.S. Constitution, detailing the original intent of the creators of the document, answering questions about the text, and critically assessing the evolution of the Bill of Rights and all other amendments.
The Making of the Constitution by Cambridge Educational
Call Number: KF4541 .Z9 M3 2004--Madigan Library Media
Publication Date: 2004
This 27-minute DVD is a compelling account of the events leading up to the creation of the Constitution.
The Language of Law and the Foundations of American Constitutionalism by Gary L. McDowell
Call Number: KF4550 .M33 2010
Publication Date: 2010
For much of its history, the interpretation of the United States Constitution presupposed judges seeking the meaning of the text and the original intentions behind that text, a process that was deemed by Chief Justice John Marshall to be 'the most sacred rule of interpretation'. Since the end of the nineteenth century, a radically new understanding has developed in which the moral intuition of the judges is allowed to supplant the Constitution's original meaning as the foundation of interpretation. The Founders' Constitution of fixed and permanent meaning has been replaced by the idea of a 'living' or evolving constitution. Gary L. McDowell refutes this new understanding, recovering the theoretical grounds of the original Constitution as understood by those who framed and ratified it. It was, he argues, the intention of the Founders that the judiciary must be bound by the original meaning of the Constitution when interpreting it.
A Companion to the United States Constitution and Its Amendments, 5th ed. by John R. Vile
Call Number: KF4550 .V55 2010
Publication Date: 2010
Designed to help students understand the Constitution in all of it splendor and subtlety, Vile introduces key events of the founding era, the Declaration of Independence, and the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention.

Websites

America's Founding Documents
From the National Archives and Records Administration, this site includes sections on the making of the charters, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights.
Constitution Annotated
The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation (popularly known as the Constitution Annotated) contains legal analysis and interpretation of the United States Constitution, based primarily on Supreme Court case law. This regularly updated resource is especially useful when researching the constitutional implications of a specific issue or topic.
Constitution of the United States: Primary Documents in American History
Digital materials at the Library of Congress related to the U.S. Constitution, as well as links to external websites and a selected print bibliography.
Constitution of the United States of America
Entry in Encyclopædia Britannica.
The Making of the U.S. Constitution
Transcription of the introduction and the U.S. Constitution from the first volume of the annals of Congress.
National Constitution Center
The first and only institution in America established by Congress to “disseminate information about the United States Constitution on a nonpartisan basis in order to increase the awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.”