GSU Library Research Guides: U.S. Constitution: Subject Guide: History of

Articles of Confederation (1781-1789)

The Articles of Confederation served as a constitution for the 13 indepedant states after the Revolution. It was in force from March 1, 1781, until 1789 when the present day Constitution went into effect.

Websites:

Articles of Confederation: Digital Archive
From the website of the Library of Congress. The Articles of Confederation plus supporting documentation such as writings of James Madison and articles from the popular press.
Articles of Confederation : March 1, 1781
From the Avalon Project (Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy) at the Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School.

Books:

The emerging nation: a documentary history of the foreign relations of the United States under the Articles of Confederation, 1780-1789 by Mary A. Giunta, et al.
Call Number: E303.E44 1996
Located on Library North 5
The Articles of Confederation by Samuel Augustus Pleasants
Call Number: JK131 .P5
Located on LIbrary North 4
This is a study of a doucument which followed the Bill of Rights but preceeded the Constitution. It provides a solid written record of the thinkimg of the founding fathers,

The Federalist Papers and Related Works

"The Federalist, commonly referred to as the Federalist Papers, is a series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison between October 1787 and May 1788. The essays were published anonymously, under the pen name "Publius," in various New York state newspapers of the time. The Federalist Papers were written and published to urge New Yorkers to ratify the proposed United States Constitution, which was drafted in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787. In lobbying for adoption of the Constitution over the existing Articles of Confederation, the essays explain particular provisions of the Constitution in detail. For this reason, and because Hamilton and Madison were each members of the Constitutional Convention, the Federalist Papers are often used today to help interpret the intentions of those drafting the Constitution." ~ Text from the Library of Congress.

Websites:

The Federalist Papers
Full text of the Federalist Papers, from the Project Gutenberg website. Listed in order by topic.
The Federalist Papers
From the Congress.gov website. Full text of the Federalist Papers in order, including author, publication, and date info.
The Federalist Papers
Full text available from the Library of Congress / Thomas website. Includes author, publication, and date.
The Federalist (Papers)
Full text listed in order and by topic.

Books:
The following are just a few of the books available in the University Library related to the Federalist Papers. Use the Library's Online Catalog to find additional books.

The Federalist papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay
Call Number: KF4515 .F4 1982
ISBN: 0553213407
Features the original eighteenth-century text, with James Madison’s marginal notations, as well as a complete text of the Constitution.
The Federalist papers; a collection of essays written in support of the Constitution of the United States
Call Number: KF4515 .F45 1966. Library North, 4
ISBN: 0801826071
Written in support of the Constitution all the essays were signed "Publius." The authors were Hamilton, Jay, and Madison.
The Federalist : design for a constitutional republic by George W. Carey
Call Number: JK155 .C37 1989
Located on Library North 4
ISBN: 0252064496
"Provides a glimpse of our Republic's original design. He shows us what kind of federal union The Federalist's authors had in mind, and indicates how we have strayed from their intent."
Explaining America : The Federalist / by Gary Wills
Call Number: JK155 .W54 1981
Located on Library North 4
ISBN: 0140298398
Analysis of the Federalist Papers
Federalists and antifederalists : the debate over the ratification of the Constitution by John P. Kaminski and Richard P. Leffler
Call Number: KF4515 .F44 1998
Located on Library North 4
ISBN: 0945612575
Text and analysis.
Birth of the Bill of Rights: encyclopedia of the Antifederalists by Jon L. Wakelyn
Call Number: Ref. E302.5 .W35 2004
Located on Library North 2, Reference Collection
ISBN: 0313331944
"Concise and informative biographical sketches of 140 of the most influential Antifederalists are complimented by nearly 100 of their complete and excerpted speeches, pamphlets, editorials, and letters."

Constitutional Convention & Ratification (1787 - 1788)

"The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia met between May and September of 1787 to address the problems of the weak central government that existed under the Articles of Confederation. The United States Constitution that emerged from the convention established a federal government with more specific powers, including those related to conducting relations with foreign governments." ~ Text from the U.S. State Department, Office of the Historian.

Websites:

Creating the United States: Convention and Ratification
From the website of the Library of Congress. Includes maps and documents relevant to the creation and ratification of the Constitution.
United States Constitution: Primary Documents in American History
From the Library of Congress. Includes documents, exhibitions, and teaching aids relevant to the ratification of the Constitution.
Elliot's Debates: The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution
"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."
The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of The Federal Constitution as Recommended by the General Convention at Philadelphia in 1787
From the website of the Constitution Society, "a private non-profit organization founded in 1994 and dedicated to research and public education on the principles of constitutional republican government."

Books:
The following are just a few of the books available in the University Library related to the Constitution. Use the Library's Online Catalog to find additional books.

Encyclopedia of the American Constitution
Call Number: Ref. KF4548 .E53 2000
Located on Library North 2
ISBN: 0028648803
"Contains essays by leading constitutional scholars, law school professors, judges, historians, and political scientists on practical and theoretical topics dealing with every aspect of constitutional law in the U.S., from the Constitutional Convention in 1787 to the Clinton impeachment."
The Penguin Guide to the United States Constitution by Richard Beeman
Call Number: KF4541 .B44 2010
Located on Library North 4
ISBN: 0143118102
A fully annotated Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and amendments, and selections from the Federalist Papers.
The Founders' Constitution by Philip B. Kurland
Call Number: Ref. KF4502 .F68 1987
Located on Library North 2
ISBN: 0865973024
"Documents included range from the early seventeenth century to the 1830s, from the reflections of philosophers to popular pamphlets, from public debates in ratifying conventions to the private correspondence of the leading political actors of the day."
Birth of the Bill of Rights: encyclopedia of the Antifederalists by Jon L. Wakelyn
Call Number: Ref. E302.5 .W35 2004
Located on Library North 2
ISBN: 0313331944
"Concise and informative biographical sketches of 140 of the most influential Antifederalists are complimented by nearly 100 of their complete and excerpted speeches, pamphlets, editorials, and letters."
Ratification: the people debate the Constitution, 1787-1788
Call Number: KF4541 .M278 2010
Located on Library North 4
ISBN: 0684868555
"Tells the story of the yearlong battle over ratification that brought such famous founders as Washington, Hamilton, Madison, Jay, and Henry together with less well-known Americans who sometimes eloquently and always passionately expressed their hopes and fears for their new country."
The debates in the several State conventions on the adoption of the Federal Constitution: as recommended by the general convention at Philadelphia in 1787
Call Number: KF4513 .E58 1888a
Located on Library North 4
ISBN: 111203160X
"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." ~ Description from the Library of Congress
To secure these blessings; the great debates of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, arranged according to topics by United States. Constitutional Convention
Call Number: JK141 1962
Located on Library North 4
The shaping of American liberalism: the debates over ratification, nullification, and slavery by David F. Ericson
Call Number: E302.1 .E74 1993
Located on Library North 5
ISBN: 0226216845
"Focusing on three critical debates in American history—the debate between Anti-Federalists and Federalists over the ratification of the Constitution; the debate between the national republicans and the states-rights republicans over the nullification of the tariff; and the Lincoln-Douglas debates over slavery and pluralist democracy—Ericson shows that republicanism, rather than being opposed to liberalism, is in fact an offshoot of it."