Primary Source Learning: U.S. Constitution

Primary source lesson plans & activities

• American Memory Timeline: Primary Source Excerpts and Discussion Questions Related to the Constitution
• The Constitution: Counter Revolution or National Salvation?
• The Constitution: Drafting a More Perfect Union
• The U.S. Constitution: Continuity and Change in the Governing of the United States
• Preamble to the Constitution Image Sequencing
• What was the purpose of the Preamble?
• Collection Connections
  • Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention
  • U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1873
• Historical Scene Investigation: I Smelt a Rat
• The Bill of Rights: Debating the Amendments
• Guided primary source analysis activities
  • The Constitutional Amendment
  • National Anti-Suffrage Association

Spotlights, features & special presentations

• Law Library of Congress: The Constitution
• Constitution Day – The Annotated Constitution Celebrated In Custodia Legis blog September 16, 2015
• Constitution Day – Religious Liberty in the United States In Custodia Legis blog September 29, 2015
• Edition for Educators—House Civics 101 US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives April 5, 2017
• To Form a More Perfect Union: Essays on the Formation of the United States
• Primary Source Excerpts and Discussion Questions Related to the Constitution
• The New Nation: The United States Constitution
• The New Nation: Confederation Government Policy Towards Native Americans
• George Washington Papers Timeline
• Thomas Jefferson Papers Timeline
• Alexander Hamilton Papers Timeline
• James Madison Papers Timeline
• James Madison and the Federal Constitutional Convention of 1787
• American Cartoon Prints: 1766-1876

Primary sources & more

• Today in History: U.S. Constitution