Constitutional Law: Historical Research

The Federalist: a collection of essays, written in favour of the new Constitution, as agreed upon by the Federal Convention, September 17, 1787, is available in paper and electronically.

ProQuest Congressional- Basic Search of Congressional Publications  

• Include the phrase "constitutional amendment*" (* is a wildcard) in your search.  Ex.  "constitutional amendment*" AND religion
• Use Index Terms to find exact phrase used by ProQuest.
• Limit your date range, if possible to exclude irrelevant documents.

A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1744-1875. Library of Congress.

• Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention: Journals of the Continental Congress; Letters of Delegates to Congress; Elliot's Debates; Farrand's Records 
• Journals of Congress: House Journal; Senate Journal; Senate Executive Journal; Maclay's Journa
• Statutes and Documents: Bills and Resolutions; Statutes at Large; American State Papers; U.S. Serial Set
• Debates of Congress: Annals of Congress; Register of Debates; Congressional Globe; Congressional Record

Congress.gov: U.S. Founding Documents

• Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation
• U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, Federalist Papers
• Library of Congress, A Century of Lawmaking

Consource.  The Constitutional Sources Project is a free online library of constitutional history.  The collection is still growing and now contains:

• The Constitution and Amendments
• Declaration of Independence
• Articles of Confederation
• State Constitutions and Charters
• Constitutional Convention Records
• The Federalist Papers
• Anti-Federalist and Pro-Federalist Papers
• State Ratification Debates
• Bill of Rights Legislative History

HeinOnline Libraries

• ​U.S. Federal Legislative History Library
• World Constitutions Illustrated

The Avalon Project, The American Constitution--A Documentary Record, Yale Law Library