Selected Materials on the United States Constitution

BOOKS – GENERAL COLLECTION

The American testament. Adler, Mortimer Jerome, and William Gorman.

Contains the text of the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States, along with the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address. Includes the authors’ commentary on the documents.

Call Number:  E221 .A46

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A brilliant solution: inventing the American Constitution. Berkin, Carol.

Covers the writing of the U.S. Constitution and humanizes the document’s authors.

Call Number:  E303 .B47 2002

Charles Beard and the Constitution, a critical analysis of “An economic interpretation of the Constitution.” Brown, Robert Eldon.

Criticism of the classic, An economic interpretation of the Constitution of the United States (listed below).

Call Number:  JK146.B53 B7

Class conflict, slavery, and the United States Constitution; ten essays. Lynd, Staughton.

Discusses the writing of the U.S. Constitution and its historical context.

Call Number:  E302.1 .L9

A companion to the United States Constitution and its amendments. Vile, John R.

“[Analyzes] specific portions of the Constitution and its subsequent amendments in detail, with commentary following the relevant texts.”

Call Number:  KF4550 .V55 1993

The Constitution of the United States of America: to honor the two-hundredth anniversary, September 17, 1987. Fink, Sam.

The Constitution, illustrated with drawings.

Call Number:  KF4525 1985

An economic interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. Beard, Charles.

The author asserts in this 1913 classic that the Constitution was designed to preserve the economic interests of a minority of Americans.

Call Number: JK146 .B5 1941

The framing of the federal Constitution. Morris, Richard Brandon.

“Depicts the men, the setting, the events, the finished work, and the struggle for ratification of the great document. A concluding section describes the later years of the document, when it suffered much from neglect, and reproduces the original text and later amendments.”

Call Number:  KF4520 .M67 (Two copies)

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Gentleman revolutionary: Gouverneur Morris, the rake who wrote the Constitution. Brookhiser, Richard.

Features the life of Gouverneur Morris, who “drafted the Constitution, and his hand lies behind many of its most important phrases.”

Call Number:  E302.6.M7 B76 2003

History of the formation of the Union under the Constitution. United States. Constitution Sesquicentennial Commission.

Includes the history and creation of the Constitution, and the formation of the government.

Call Number:  JK166 1968

How democratic is the American Constitution? Dahl, Robert Alan.

“Reveals the Constitution’s potentially antidemocratic elements and explains why they are there, compares the American constitutional system to other democratic systems, and explores how we might alter our political system to achieve greater equality among citizens.”

Call Number:  KF4550 . D34 2003

The ratification of the Constitution and the Bill of rights Schrag, Peter.

Features items on the Constitution written by influential people from the end of the Revolution until the Bill of Rights was adopted.

Call Number:  E303 .S3

The Second Amendment in law and history: historians and constitutional scholars on the right to bear arms. Bogus, Carl T.

Ten essays “touch on leading constitutional debates—including the nature of constitutional interpretation, the relationship between federal and local authority, and the philosophical origins of American constitutionalism—as well as key historical issues surrounding gun ownership and the constitutional right to bear arms.”

Call Number:  KF3941 .S43 2000

Witnesses at the creation: Hamilton, Madison, Jay, and the Constitution. Morris, Richard Brandon.

How Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay convinced the United States to adopt the Constitution.

Call Number:  E303 .M887 1985 

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BOOKS – REFERENCE COLLECTION

The Bill of Rights. Lewis, Thomas T.

Essays on the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Bill of Rights. Includes over eighty issues, including academic freedom and automobile searches. Two volumes. Includes text of the Constitution.

Call Number:  REF KF4750 .B55 2002

Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. Levy, Leonard J., Kenneth L. Karst, and Dennis J. Mahoney.

Seeks to “bridge the disciplines of history, law, and political science…. The subjects fall into five general categories: doctrinal concepts of constitutional law, people, judicial decisions, public acts (such as statutes, treaties, and executive orders), and historical periods.” Four volumes.

Call Number:  REF KF4548 .E53 1986  

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DVDS

Founding brothers volume 1. The History Channel.
"Based on Joseph Ellis's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Founding Brothers examines six moments when the collisions and collusions of these towering figures left an indelible imprint on the nation. [Volume 1 includes] the secret dinner that determined the site of the capital and America's financial future, and Benjamin Franklin's call for an end to slavery."
Call Number: DVD 195

Founding brothers volume 2. The History Channel.
"[Volume 2 of Founding Brothers includes] George Washington's farewell address to the nation; John Adams's term as president; Hamilton and Burr's famous and fatal duel, and the final reconciliation between Adams and Jefferson."
Call Number: DVD 196

Key constitutional concepts a conversation. Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands.
"This documentary begins by introducing the Constitution and why it was created. It then examines key Constitutional concepts -- separation of powers and individual rights."
Call Number: DVD 513 

Our constitution a conversation. Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands.
"[Discussion about] the significance of the judiciary and the ways that independence is protected by the Constitution."
Call Number: DVD 511