There can be no more important words than these.

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, 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."

With these words, We began our great experiment with Democracy 237 years ago.  In honor of this momentous date, Constitution Day and Citizenship Day were established as a federal day of observance to commemorate the signing of the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787.

In declaring the first Citizenship Day in 1952, President Truman wrote in his Proclamation 2984 "Whereas it is most fitting that every citizen of the United States, whether native-born or foreign-born, should on September 17 of each year give special thought and consideration to his rights and responsibilities under our Constitution."

Congress would later change the designation of Citizenship Day to Constitution Day and Citizenship Day in 2004.  Continuing in this spirit, and in service to the day's educational mission, a whole host of public and private organizations have put together resources and activities to inform and enrich us as Americans.  One of my favorites is the National Constitution Center in historic Philadelphia.  The Center and Museum are located just blocks from Independence Hall where the U.S. Constitution was debated and signed.

The National Constitution Center has a full schedule of events planned for Constitution Day and Citizenship Day.  One program will feature the Honorable Neil M. Gorsuch, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, as he talks about his new book, Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law.  The talk will be on Tuesday, September 17, at 10:00 a.m. (Central Time).  You are invited to register here to attend the presentation online.

At the National Archives Museum in Washington D.C., one may see original copies of the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence proudly known as the Charters of Freedom in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom.

New this year at the National Archives is a fascinating exhibit Records of Rights in the David M. Rubenstein Gallery.  The exhibit illustrates how generations of Americans have debated and fought for rights like freedom of speech, religion, and equality.  An online version of "Records of Rights" is also available.

The Library of Congress has a world of interesting items for you to explore such as the Constitution of the United States: Primary Documents in American History.  This Digital Collection includes the records of the Constitutional Convention known as Farrand's Records, as well as the papers of Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson.

On Constitution Day in 2018, the Law Librarians of Congress, in their In Custodia Legis column published an article detailing the Records of the Constitutional Convention, their authorship, and later publication.

There is also the Constitution Annotated for the public to view online.  This resource provides a comprehensive overview to the Constitution and how it has been interpreted over time.  A new feature is the Constitution Annotated: A Research Guide to help users better understand and navigate this important title.

You can read a copy of the U.S. Constitution here.  I encourage you to do so, especially if you have never done so.

Here at UW-Madison, scholars have made enormous contributions to the study and understanding of the U.S. Constitution.  The University is home to the nationally renowned Center for the Study of the American Constitution (CSAC).  The Center's masterwork The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution is freely accessible to the public through the UW Digital Collections.  Like the other websites mentioned above, the more you explore the more you will discover.  CSAC's website includes maps of the original thirteen States and how they voted to ratify the Constitution, lesson plans to use in the classroom, and an extensive lineup of books and broadsides available for purchase from their online bookstore.

UW-Madison will also be hosting a Constitution Day lecture on Thursday, Sept. 19th, at noon.  Guest speaker Professor Derek Webb will explore this year's Constitution Day theme and the subject of his forthcoming book: "The Spirit of Amity" : The Constitution’s Forgotten Cover Letter and the Original Meaning of Civility.  The lecture is open to the public, and will be held in Room 7200 of the UW Law School on Bascom Hill.

Submitted by Eric Taylor, Evening Reference Librarian on September 10, 2024

This article appears in the categories: Law Library