COM Library has some great collections of primary sources. Primary sources are records created at the time of an event or experience, or as told by people who were present at the event. Must access on campus or login with your COM account for off campus access.
Want more on finding primary sources? Try Tips for Finding Primary Sources or Tips for Finding Primary Sources Open Access.
The Annotated U. S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence
Here in a newly annotated edition are the two founding documents of the United States of America: the Declaration of Independence (1776), our great revolutionary manifesto, and the Constitution (1787âe"88), in which âeoeWe the Peopleâe#157; forged a new nation and built the framework for our federal republic. Together with the Bill of Rights and the Civil War amendments, these documents constitute what James Madison called our âeoepolitical scripturesâe#157; and have come to define us as a people. Now a Pulitzer Prizeâe"winning historian serves as a guide to these texts, providing historical contexts and offering interpretive commentary. In an introductory essay written for the general reader, Jack N. Rakove provides a narrative political account of how these documents came to be written. In his commentary on the Declaration of Independence, Rakove sets the historical context for a fuller appreciation of the important preamble and the list of charges leveled against the Crown. When he glosses the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the subsequent amendments, Rakove once again provides helpful historical background, targets language that has proven particularly difficult or controversial, and cites leading Supreme Court cases. A chronology of events provides a framework for understanding the road to Philadelphia. The general reader will not find a better, more helpful guide to our founding documents than Jack N. Rakove.
The Debate on the Constitution
Here, on a scale unmatched by any previous collection, is the extraordinary energy and eloquence of our first national political campaign: During the secret proceedings of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, the framers created a fundamentally new national plan to replace the Articles of Confederation and then submitted it to conventions in each state for ratification. Immediately, a fierce storm of argument broke. Federalist supporters, Antifederalist opponents, and seekers of a middle ground strove to balance public order and personal liberty as they praised, condemned, challenged, and analyzed the new Constitution Gathering hundreds of original texts by Franklin, Madison, Jefferson, Washington, and Patrick Henry; as well as many others less well known today ;this unrivaled collection allows readers to experience firsthand the intense year-long struggle that created what remains the worlds oldest working national charter.
Defining Documents in American History: the First Amendment
These volumes explore the five freedoms protected in the First Amendment-speech, religion, press, assembly, and the right to petition the government. Together, these five guaranteed freedoms make the people of the United States the freest in the world. There is no age or citizenship requirement to exercise your First Amendment-they are guaranteed the day you are born as long as you are in the U.S. Few Americans would question the importance of the First Amendment, despite the misunderstanding that often swirls around the principles embodied in these freedoms. From the birth of the First Amendment in 1789 to today, most Americans exercise these rights every day.
The Essential Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers
Here, in a single volume, is a selection of the classic critiques of the new Constitution penned by such ardent defenders of states' rights and personal liberty as George Mason, Patrick Henry, and Melancton Smith; pro-Constitution writings by James Wilson and Noah Webster; and thirty-three of the best-known and most crucial Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. The texts of the chief constitutional documents of the early Republic are included as well. David Wootton's illuminating Introduction examines the history of such American principles of government as checks and balances, the separation of powers, representation by election, and judicial independenceincluding their roots in the largely Scottish, English, and French new science of politics. It also offers suggestions for reading The Federalist, the classic elaboration of these principles written in defense of a new Constitution that sought to apply them to the young Republic.
The Federalist
The definitive edition of the historic essays by ALEXANDER HAMILTON, JAMES MADISON and JOHN JAY, fully annotated and reproduced from the original text.