Constitution Day commemorates the signing of the US Constitution by thirty-nine delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787.
Spotlights, Exhibitions, and Historical Resources
- Differences between Federalists and Antifederalists: A downloadable infographic of the differences between Federalists and Antifederalists at the time the Constitution was being ratified.
- “Historical Context: The Survival of the US Constitution”: A brief outline of how the Constitution has evolved by Professor Steven Mintz (University of Texas at Austin)
- A newspaper story about a brawl between Federalists and anti-Federalists, 1788
- Two versions of the Preamble to the Constitution, 1787
- “‘We the People’: Printings of the US Constitution from the Gilder Lehrman Collection,” an online exhibition
- "Alexander Hamilton and the Ratification of the Constitution," an online exhibition
Videos
These three videos are 1- to 4-minute clips that briefly address specific questions:
- “The US Constitution and the Concept of Originalism” by Professor Jack Rakove (Stanford University)
- “Slavery and the Constitution” by Professor James Oliver Horton (George Washington University)
- “Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists” by Professor Carol Berkin (Baruch College & The Graduate Center, CUNY)
Book Breaks
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Steven A. Steinbach and Maeva Marcus: With Liberty and Justice for All? The Constitution in the Classroom
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Akhil Reed Amar: The Words That Made Us: America’s Constitutional Conversation: 1760–1840
Inside the Vault
History Now: The Journal
- The Constitution: In History Now issue 13, scholars explore the philosophical and political traditions and innovations that defined the Constitution—and those that prompted opposition to it by the Antifederalists.
- Additional History Now essays:
Lesson Plans
- “Our Constitution: The Bill of Rights”: Students will examine the rights and restrictions that are defined by the Bill of Rights in the US Constitution in lesson plans scaled for various grades:
For Grades 4–6
For Grades 7–9
For Grades 10–12 - “Opposing Viewpoints on the Ratification of the US Constitution”: Students will examine and analyze key excerpts from “Federalist No. 51,” George Mason’s Objections to the Constitution, and notes from Alexander Hamilton’s Plan of Government speech.