Drafting of the U.S. Constitution

The drafting of the U.S. Constitution was a pivotal moment in American history. Framers drafted and adopted the Constitution after it became clear that the Articles of Confederation didn't provide a strong enough federal government, quite the contentious issue in post-revolutionary war America.

The drafting of the U.S. Constitution is a broad topic. There is enough information about it to write an entire book, and people have! As you start your research, consider what facet of this topic you would like to focus on. When you do, it can be helpful to write a research question as a foundation for your research. Read Shapiro Library FAQs on writing research questions for more information.

Consider reading the research starter on the U.S. Constitution to brush up on the issues and details surrounding the writing of the Constitution. This is an encyclopedia article, and like other background/reference sources, is a great source to give yourself context on a subject before you dive into deeper research. Background sources can help you decide how you would like to focus your research and which keywords might be helpful. They generally aren't acceptable sources to use in your papers because they summarize and condense information about a topic. The original research and primary sources reference sources cite can be a good place to start.

Continue on to the primary sources page to see some example sources and more resources for finding primary sources on this topic.