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Law Libraries' NewsLog > Posts > Constitution and Citizenship Day, September 17
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9/16/2009
In anticipation of Constitution and Citizenship Day, here's a selection of links to quality source materials concerning the Federal Constitutional Convention and the debates in the states concerning the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. Connecticut had three delegates at the Constitutional Convention.
U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 to 1875
(Library of Congress: American Memory)
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Farrand's Records: The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787
“One of the great scholarly works of the early twentieth century was Max Farrand's The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787. Published in 1911, Farrand's work gathered the documentary records of the Constitutional Convention into four volumes--three of which are included in this online collection--containing the materials necessary to study the workings of the Constitutional Convention. According to Farrand's introduction, at the close of the convention, the secretary, William Jackson, delivered all the materials to the president of the convention, George Washington, who turned these papers over to the Department of State in 1796. In 1818, Congress ordered that the records be printed, which was done under the supervision of the Secretary of State John Q. Adams, in 1819.”
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Elliot's Debates: The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution
“The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution is a five-volume collection compiled by Jonathan Elliot in the mid-nineteenth century. The volumes remain the best source for materials about the national government's transitional period between the closing of the Constitutional Convention in September 1787 and the opening of the First Federal Congress in March 1789. On September 17, 1787, the Continental Congress accepted the recommendation of the Constitutional Convention and agreed to distribute the proposed constitution to the states; each state was then to elect delegates to a state convention to approve or disapprove the new constitution. The Constitution would take effect upon ratification by the conventions of nine of the thirteen states.”
Useful links for further research:
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