The primary-source texts that every constitutional argument, on either side, eventually has to reckon with.
The full text of all seven articles, drafted at the Philadelphia Convention and ratified by the states in 1788.
Read Full Text 1791The first ten amendments, added to satisfy states that had withheld ratification without guarantees of individual liberty.
Read Full Text 1787–88Eighty-five essays by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay arguing for ratification — still cited today as evidence of original intent.
Read Commentary 1776Not law itself, but the philosophical charter the Constitution was later built to carry out.
Read Commentary