Research Guides: United States Constitution Day: Databases and Websites

Databases with Historical and Reference Information

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Selected full text articles from journals in a wide range of subjects, plus magazines, reports, books, and more
America: History & Life This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Selected full text articles from journals on U.S. and Canadian history and culture with some coverage of books and conference papers
American Periodicals This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Full text of American magazines, journals, and newspapers that began publication between 1740-1940; coverage ends in June 1943; includes page view
American State Papers This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Readex Digital Collections. Primary sources on many aspects of early American history from 1789 to 1838; largely Congressional but also containing Executive Department materials.
Volumes were published in ten classes: I: Foreign Relations; II: Indian Affairs; III: Finance; IV: Commerce and Navigation; V: Military Affairs; VI: Naval Affairs; VII: Post-office Department; VIII: Public Lands; IX: Claims; and X: Miscellaneous. House & Senate journals not included. Approximately two-thirds of the publications cover the first 14 Congresses (1789-1817), whereas the remaining third chronologically overlap with the Serial Set from 1817-1838. Now Available: 1st Congress, 1st Session through 25th Congress, 2nd Session,1789-1838; American State Papers Vols. 01-038.
Catalog of U.S. Government Publications This link opens in a new window
Describes U.S. government publications available online or in depository library collections
Congress.gov This link opens in a new window
U.S. federal legislative information (formerly Thomas.gov)
Congressional Publications This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Selected full text of federal legislative histories, hearings, Congress (both House and Senate) committee documents, and more
Digital Collections (Library of Congress) This link opens in a new window
Texts, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience and more, with selected content formerly found in American Memory collections
Documentary History of the First Federal Congress This link opens in a new window
Covers correspondence of key figures from America’s founding era 1789-1791
Evans Early American Imprint Collection Online This link opens in a new window
1640-1790; free online texts created by the Text Creation Partnership from Readex's Evans Early American Imprints
Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (CC0 1.0 Universal)
Gale eBooks (formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library) This link opens in a new window
Full text encyclopedias, biographical dictionaries, and subject-specific reference books.
HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
Provides full text for books in the public domain and "find in a library" links for those still under copyright.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Primarily full text (excluding most recent 3 - 5 years) for journal articles in the humanities, social sciences, statistics, and mathematics
Project Gutenberg This link opens in a new window
Ebooks that are public domain in the U.S.; download formats include EPUB, Kindle, HTML, and more.
U.S. Government Bookstore This link opens in a new window
Browse by topic or agency; search by keyword, title, agency, ISBN, or stock number
Very Short Introductions This link opens in a new window
Full text overviews of diverse subjects, including ancient warfare, climate, consciousness, economics, game theory, Islamic history, literary theory, privacy, and more.

Websites about the Constitution

The Constitution of the United States
The National Archives and Records Administration's website for America's Founding Documents.
iCivics
iCivics champions equitable, non-partisan civic education so that the practice of democracy is learned by each new generation. We work to inspire life-long civic engagement by providing high quality and engaging civics resources to teachers and students across our nation.
The National Constitution Center
Learn about, debate, and celebrate the greatest vision of human freedom in history, the U.S. Constitution.

Websites related to the Constitution

The American Constitution Society
A diverse legal community that dedicates itself to advancing and defending democracy, justice, equality, and liberty; to securing a government that serves the public interest; and to guarding against the abuse of law and the concentration of power.

Maps

Ratification of the Constitution 1787-1790 -- North America, United States, Map
The United States of America showing the boundaries fixed in 1782 five years before the ratification of the Constitution
City of the Constitution, Washington, DC
This map locates sites chosen to illustrate the Constitution and Bill of Rights.