Bibliography of the United States Constitution

Constitution of the United States
Created: September 17, 1787[1]
Presented: September 28, 1787[2]
Ratified: June 21, 1788[3]
Date effective: March 4, 1789[4]

The bibliography of the United States Constitution is a comprehensive selection of books, journal articles and various primary sources about and primarily related to the Constitution of the United States that have been published since its ratification in 1788. Many of the delegates at the Constitutional Convention set out to improve on the inadequate Articles of Confederation,[5] but after much deliberation over state's rights a new Federal Constitution was approved.[6] To allow delegates to make compromises and changes without speculation from the public and newspapers it was decided that the debates and drafting during the Convention be conducted in secret,[7][8] which is why definitive accounts of the Convention did not appear until 1840,[9][10][11][a] while many books on the Constitution begin after the Convention of 1787.[12] On September 17, 1787, the new Constitution was signed by the delegates, and ratified the following year, which established the government of the United States in March 1789.[13][14] Since then, many historians and political scientists, some of them critical and controversial, have written about the Constitution, and the Founding Fathers who framed it.

Preliminary notes[edit]

  • Books published before 1970 have no ISBN.
  • Historical journals have no ISBN and usually possess a DOI number.
  • Various works have been reprinted – any year dates enclosed in [brackets] denote the original year of publication
  • Primary sources are works authored by individuals closely associated with the event or idea in question and are listed separately in the Primary sources section.[b]
  • Many general biographies of James Madison, often considered the Father of the Constitution, exist, which cover his involvement with that document to one extent or another. Such works can be found in the Bibliography of James Madison article and are not included in this bibliography.
  • Encyclopedia articles and essays found on web pages are not listed.

18th century publications[edit]

  • Constitution related works authored in the eighteenth century are typically Primary sources and are listed in the Primary sources section.
  • Works of this era that were highly influential to the Framers are listed in the Works influential to the Founders section

19th century publications[edit]

Journals 1[edit]

20th century publications[edit]

Journals 2[edit]