Imagine sitting down with representatives of your school to write a new student handbook. What arguments would ensue? How would compromises be made to finish the project? Scholars research the Constitutional Convention using a directory...

Supreme Court justices debate the meaning of the US Constitution, but we expect teachers to explain it to scholars with far less training and experience. A daunting task for sure, but it's not insurmountable with resources that simplify...

Most Americans profess their love for the US Constitution, but this was not always the case. An informative lesson overviews the debate between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists by summarizing the main arguments of each side. It...

There were 5 main issues that the delegates to the Constitutional Convention argued and debated: Slavery, Representation, State v. Federal Powers, Commerce, and Executive Powers. Analyze these issues by reading the following summaries,...

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) provides biographies of all 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention.

One word can sum up the Constitutional Convention of 1787 - compromise. Find out which compromises were made and by which groups of people and/or states. This expansive site includes background on the convention, primary source...

Dive into the times following the Constitutional Convention when the people and the leaders carried on in-depth conversations about the proposed constitution for the new nation. There were debates between Federalists and Antifederalists...

An overview of the process of ratification which occurred following the Constitutional Convention proposed the first version of the Constitution. Meet the primary contributors and understand the six stages of the ratification.

The issue of slavery was a contentious one during debates in the Constitutional Convention. Read about the various issues, the quotes of several of the delegates, and see how the word "slave" is not even mentioned in the Constitution....

Find the delegates of the Constitutional Convention listed both alphabetically and by the state they represented. Check out the biographical information for each one.

Essay covers from the Articles of Confederation and the problems of disunity of the new states after the Revolutionary War, internally as well as externally, to the Constitutional Convention, an attempt to address the Articles' problems....

This site from the United States Senate provides information about the evolution of the Senate as the Constitution was being written by the Constitutional Congress.

Among the many weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation was the inability of the government to conduct foreign policy in an effective manner. Find out how the Constitutional Convention addressed this issue by allowing the Executive...

Committees, committee assignments, themes of the Constitutional Convention and more resources are provided. Go into depth studying the details of the significant convention.

This site has a brief summary that describes the delegates to the Constitutional Convention. This group is sometimes called the "Founding Fathers."

After the Constitution was written, debated, and finally adopted by the Constitutional Convention, it was sent to the states to ratify. Read about the fears of those who did not want to ratify it and see how their fears were addressed.

A look at the convening of a Constitutional Convention to address the problems inherent in the Articles of Confederation. Read a quote from George Washington, who addressed the legality of such a convention.

Read reconstructions of debates by delegates to the Constitutional Convention as they attempted to come to terms with slavery, the slave trade, and how to address the issue in the Constitution so all states would be willing to ratify it....

Find short biographies of twenty-three of the fifty-five delegates to the Constitutional Convention and their ideas about government. These men were certainly not representative of the common man in the new United States, but they were...

Overview of a biography of Hugh Williamson, 1735-1819, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention from North Carolina.

The delegates to the Constititional Convention produced a new governing document for the new United States. Read about how they determined to take the ratification process to the people of the states.

Those writing the Constitution had many issues to deal with in forming a document to govern the country. One thorny issue was the status of the states in regard to representation in the federal legislature. Read about the Virginia Plan...

The delegates at the Constitution established strict guidelines for writing the document. Read about the general housekeeping rules, and the way they reached compromises.

There was no Bill of Rights attached to the original Constitution, but it was a topic of discussion. Read a reconstruction of speeches of delegates to the Constitutional Convention who debated for and against the inclusion of a way to...