PROJECT HISTORY LINKS, The Federalist Papers
Articles of Confederation | Making the Constitution | Ratification Debate | Bill of Rights
John Jay | James Madison | Alexander Hamilton | Patrick Henry | George Mason
Richard Henry Lee | Primary Sources | Videos | Books | Teacher Resources
Articles of Confederation
An Outline of American History: The Articles of Confederation A short history. By From Revolution to Reconstruction.
Articles of Confederation Text from the Avalon Project at Yale Law School. (Primary source document)
Making the Constitution
To Form a More Perfect Union: Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention A good history from the revolution to the making of the Constitution. From the Library of Congress.
Organizing a War
Fanning the Flames of Patriotism
Incorporating the Western Territories
Relations with Native Americans
Identifying Defections in the Confederation
Creating a Constitution
Forming a New Government--Decisions Facing Our Founding Fathers From PBS.
U.S. Constitution Text of the Constitution (Primary source document). From Constitutional Rights Foundation.
U.S. Constitution Search Search the U.S. Constitution by keyword. From Emory University School of Law.
Delegates to the Constitutional Convention Biographies of all the delegates. From National Archives and Records Administration.
Ratification Debate
Preface: The Federalist Papers A short overview of the Federalist Papers. By James B. Plair.
The Federalist Search Search the Federalist Papers by keyword. From Emory University School of Law.
The Federalist Papers The complete collection. (Primary source documents)
Summaries and analyses of the Federalist Papers:
ClassicNotes: The Federalist Papers
SparkNotes: The Federalist Papers
The Federalist A summary by Bert Johnson.
Constitutional Topic: The Federalists and Anti-Federalists A short essay on the Federalists and Anti-Federalists with links to more information. From USConstitution.net.
Chronology of the Pro- and Anti-Federalist Papers Links to both Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers showing the issues addressed. From the Constitution Society.
Federalists and Anti-Federalists A brief summary of the arguments between the two groups. From the ThinkQuest Library.
Bill of Rights
Ratification and the Bill of Rights A short history. By From Revolution to Reconstruction.
Bill of Rights Text of the Bill of Rights. From Constitutional Rights Foundation. (Primary source document)
Documentary History of the Bill of Rights Links to primary source documents related to the history of the Bill of Rights.
John Jay
The Papers of John Jay In addition to his papers, the site has a biography of Jay and background information on his role in New York in writing the Federalist Papers.
Founder of the Month: John Jay From Bill of Rights Institute. Also in a PDF file.
John Jay: Fifth President of the U.S. Congress From USPresidency.com.
Extract From an Address to the People of New York on the Subject of the Federal Constitution (Primary source document)
James Madison
The Question of a Bill of Rights Letter from Madison in Jefferson in 1788. (Primary source document)
James Madison proposes the Bill of Rights to the House of Representatives By Devin Bent.
Brief Biography of James Madison From James Madison University.
James Madison 1751-1836 Biography
Founder of the Month: James Madison A biography from the Bill of Rights Institute. Also available as a PDF file.
Columbia Encyclopedia: James Madison
Great Quotations of James Madison
Alexander Hamilton
Hamilton and the U.S. Constitution From PBS.
A Biography of Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) By From Revolution to Reconstruction.
Columbia Encyclopedia: Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton A short biography. From James Madison University.
The Rise and Fall of Alexander Hamilton A long biography by Ian Finseth.
Founder of the Month: Alexander Hamilton From the Bill of Rights Institute.
Alexander Hamilton on the Web Links to various sources.
Alexander Hamilton: American History Forum A discussion group with postings on Hamilton.
Patrick Henry
Let America Speak: Patrick Henry From PBS.
Patrick Henry Writings and Biography (Primary source documents).
Patrick Henry A brief biography. From Colonial Williamsburg.
Columbia Encyclopedia: Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry Another short biography. From ushistory.org.
Founder of the Month: Patrick Henry PDF file from the Bill of Rights Institute.
A Wrong Step Now and the Republic Will Be Lost Forever Patrick Henry's speech against the Constitution at the Virginia Ratifying Convention. (Primary source document)
Against the Federal Constitution Speech by Patrick Henry on June 5, 1788. (Primary source document)
Virginia Sentinel: The Principled Dissent of Patrick Henry By Mike Pope.
George Mason
George Mason and the Bill of Rights A biography by Gary Williams, a librarian and freelance writer who lives in Ohio.
George Mason 1725-1792 A biography by From Revolution to Reconstruction.
Columbia Encyclopedia: George Mason
Founder of the Month: George Mason From the Bill of Rights Institute.
George Mason Online Resources on Mason. From Gunston Hall Plantation.
George Mason and the Constitution From Gunston Hall Plantation.
George Mason Writings and Biography
The Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776) The document written by George Mason. (Primary source document)
Objections to This Constitution of Government George Mason's 16 objections to the Constitution. (Primary source document)
Richard Henry Lee
Richard Henry Lee Biography from Colonial House.
Richard Henry Lee Biography from Stratford Hall Plantation.
A Biography of Richard Henry Lee By From Revolution to Reconstruction.
Richard Henry Lee A biography from Library of Congress.
Richard Henry Lee: President of Congress 1784-5 From USPresidency.com
Columbia Encyclopedia: Richard Henry Lee
Other Primary Sources
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union An introduction to the document, images of a book that published the document, and the text. From Archiving Early America.
Northwest Ordinance An introduction to the document, images of it, and the text. From Archiving Early America.
The Charters of Freedom from National Archives and Records Administration:
Documents from the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention Hundred of documents. From Library of Congress.
Proposed Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Written by James Madison. From the site of From Revolution to Reconstruction.
Video
"Are We to Be a Nation?" Episode six of the PBS series Liberty! deals with the problems of the Articles of Confederation and the making and passage of the Constitution.
Books
Shh! We're Writing the Constitution by Jean Fritz
The Great Little Madison by Jean Fritz
James Madison by Stuart A. Kallen
Where Was Patrick Henry on the 29th of May? by Jean Fritz
Alexander Hamilton by Stuart A. Kallen
Patrick Henry by Stuart A. Kallen
Teacher Resources
Teaching With Documents Lesson Plan: The Ratification of the Constitution From the U.S. National Archives & Records Administration.
The Federalist Papers: In Modern Language: Indexed for Today's Political Issues by Mary E. Webster
Letters of Liberty: A Documentary History of the Constitution by John Rhodehamel
