Stop by Kemp Library on Monday, Sept 18, 2023 to pick up a free pocket Constitution! Click this link or the image below for the online PDF version.
In 2005, Congress designated September 17 as Constitution Day and Citizenship Day to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787.
Commemorate Constitution Day with ESU's American Democracy Project in the Gender and Sexuality Center for a live-virtual 19th Amendment Tour of the National Constitution Center's newest exhibit on women's suffrage on Thursday, September 15th at 2 PM. Join our discussion in-person or watch the tour yourself on Zoom.
The American Democracy Project (ADP) will host a National Constitution Day Conversation on Friday, September 16 from 2-3 p.m. ET. Free and open to all. Designed to reach across differences, this hour-long event, hosted by AASCU's American Democracy Project, creates a space for open discussion of the U.S. Constitution. This national facilitated dialogue is based on the fundamental value of the pursuit of knowledge for the public good. We will provide access to information about the U.S. Constitution, but you need not be an expert to enjoy this event and to share in the lively conversation. Open to all higher education students, faculty, and staff. Bring your classes and student organizations, and join us for this national dialogue.
The years between the end of the American Revolution in 1783 and the ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1789 have been described as either the best of times or the worst of times and rarely separated from the U.S. Constitution. While some historians have celebrated the achievement of the Constitutional Convention, described as saving the Revolution, others have argued that the Constitution’s framers put an end to the liberating tendencies of the Revolution. How did the pre-Constitution, post-independence United States work? What were the possibilities and the tremendous opportunities? Editors Douglas Bradburn and Christopher R. Pearl examine this critical period in American history and the pivotal decade of the 1780s.
The Law Library of Congress' Constitution Day event will feature Harvard Law School William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law emeritus Mark Tushnet in an interview with University of Virginia School of Law Dean Risa Goluboff. Professor Tushnet and Dean Goluboff will discuss Professor Tushnet’s book on the Hughes-era United States Supreme Court, The Hughes Court: From Progressivism to Pluralism, 1930 to 1941. The event will also feature opening remarks by Law Librarian of Congress Aslihan Bulut and closing remarks from Jeanne Dennis, senior counsel, Legal Programs and Initiatives, of the American Law Division of the Congressional Research Service. Jeanne will provide an update on the Constitution Annotated, a site that provides summaries of U.S. constitutional provisions and the leading U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have interpreted them.
More information is posted here.
Register here (select "Virtual Attendee").
September 17, 2021 is Constitution Day! Commemorate it by reading the U.S. Constitution.
Signed on this day in 1787, the Constitution defines the framework of the Federal Government of the United States.
Constitution of the United States, National Archives
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
- Preamble to the United States Constitution
View the Constitution in the National Archives Catalog.
Read the transcript on the National Archives' America's Founding Documents website.
A More Perfect Union: The Creation of the U.S. Constitution, a history from the National Archives.
The Writing and Ratification of the U.S. Constitution: Practical Virtue in Action.
Vile, John R. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2012.
The Annotated U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence.
Rakove, Jack N. Harvard University Press, 2009.
American Epic : Reading the U.S. Constitution
Epps, Garrett. Oxford University Press, 2013.
Women and the U.S. Constitution : History, Interpretation, and Practice.
Schwarzenbach, Sibyl A. and Patricia Smith. Columbia University Press, 2003.
Dirck, Brian R. Southern Illinois University Press, 2012.
The Presidents and the Constitution : A Living History.
Gormley, Ken. NYU Press, 2016.
Search for additional e-books in EBSCO's eBook Academic Collection.
Cartoon Bank: a searchable website for cartoons published in The New Yorker.
Cartoon Prints, American: Library of Congress digital collection featuring over 500 prints of political art from the 18th and 19th centuries.
American Political Prints, 1766-1876: HarpWeek features political prints published in Harper's Weekly. You can browse by topic including,
HarpWeek's Cartoon of the Day: There are six cartoons featured under the "U.S. Constitution" topic.
The Bill of Rights is the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution. It spells out Americans’ rights in relation to their government. It guarantees civil rights and liberties to the individual—like freedom of speech, press, and religion.
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution passed by Congress September 25, 1789 and was ratified on December 15, 1791.
"One of the ten amendments of the Bill of Rights, the First Amendment gives everyone residing in the United States the right to hear all sides of every issue and to make their own judgments about those issues without government interference or limitations. The First Amendment allows individuals to speak, publish, read and view what they wish, worship (or not worship) as they wish, associate with whomever they choose, and gather together to ask the government to make changes in the law or to correct the wrongs in society."
- First Amendment and Censorship, American Library Association.
Resources:
Clauses of the First Amendment
The National Constitution Center. “The National Constitution Center is the first and only institution in America established by Congress to ‘disseminate information about the United States Constitution on a non-partisan basis in order to increase the awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.”
First Amendment - Religion and Expression
FindLaw. “FindLaw, a Thomson Reuters business, providers consumers and lawyers with a range of case law, statutes, legal news, online career center, blogs and a variety of community-oriented tools."
The Bill of Rights. America's Founding Documents from the National Archives. Learn more about the Bill of Rights: What does it say? How did it happen? How was it made? and more!
Stop by Kemp Library to see the U.S. Constitution & Free Speech book display.
Books currently on display are available for check out! Ask for the book at the Circulation Desk.
Speech rights in America : the First Amendment, democracy, and the media.
Stein, Laura Lynn. University of Illinois Press, 2008.
Call number: On Display 302.23 St34s
A distant heritage : the growth of free speech in early America.
Eldridge, Larry D. New York University Press, 1994.
Call number: On Display 342.730853 EL24d
Also available online as an e-book.
We the students : Supreme Court cases for and about students.
Raskin, Jamin R. CQ Press, 2008.
Call Number: On Display 344.73079 R183w3
Censorship, Inc. : the corporate threat to free speech in the United States.
Soley, Lawrence C. Monthly Review Press, 2002.
Call number: On Display 323.443 So43c
Come to Kemp Library to see additional materials on display!
Freedom of Speech : The History of an Idea.
Powers, Elizabeth. Bucknell University Press, 2011.
The Soul of the First Amendment : Why Freedom of Speech Matters.
Abrams, Floyd. Yale University Press, 2017.
African Americans and the First Amendment : The Case for Liberty and Equality.
Shiell, Timothy C. SUNY Press, 2019.
An Indispensable Liberty : The Fight for Free Speech in Nineteenth-Century America.
Cronin, Mary M. Southern Illinois University Press, 2016.
Unlearning Liberty : Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate.
Lukianoff, Greg. Encounter Books, 2014.
Free Speech and Human Dignity.
Heyman, Steven J. Yale University Press, 2008.
Search for additional e-books in EBSCO's eBook Academic Collection.
A look at the First Amendment: freedom of speech and religion.
Conway, John Richard. MyReportLinks.com Books, 2009.
Call number: Children's Collection 342.73 Con
Book currently on display! Ask at the Circulation Desk.
In defense of liberty: the story of America's Bill of Rights
Freedman, Russell. Holiday House, 2003.
Call number: Children's Collection 342.73 Fre
Book currently on display! Ask at the Circulation Desk.
A look at the Bill of Rights: protecting the rights of Americans.
Graham, Amy. Enslow Publishers, 2008
Call number: Children's Collection 342.73 Gra
Stop by Kemp Library this week (Sept 12-17, 2022) to pick up a free pocket Constitution. You can also click on the image above for the PDF version.
Learn more about virtual events for Constitution Day on the Constitution Day 2021 page.
View the 2020 virtual exhibit on the 19th Amendment and Voting Rights. See the Constitution Day 2020 page.