Research Guides: Constitution Day: Online Resources and Documents

More on Constitution Day

This federal holiday began in 1940 as "I Am An American Day", a day for the recognition of American citizens.

In 1952, Congress repealed this holiday and legislated for the creation of "Citizenship Day", which also included the commemoration of the signing of the Constitution. The new law encouraged civil and educational authorities to arrange observances of the day and instruct citizens in their rights and responsibilities.

In 2004, Congress renamed the day "Constitution Day and Citizenship Day". It also introduced the requirement that "each educational institution that receives Federal funds for a fiscal year shall hold an educational program on the United States Constitution on September 17 of such year for the students served by the educational institution" (Public Law 108-477, Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005).

More information on Constitution Day and Citizenship Day is available from the website of the Law Library of Congress.

The Making of the American Constitution (TED Ed)

Constitution Center podcasts

Listen to debates and discussions as part of the National Constitution Center's Town Hall series of programs.

Online Resources

Bill of Rights Institute
Lesson plans, games and videos on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Charters of Freedom
The National Archives online exhibition on the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
The American Constitution: a Documentary Record
The Avalon Project is a digital library of documents relating to law, history and diplomacy. The project is part of the Yale Law School Lillian Goldman Law Library.
The project contains online electronic copies of documents dating back to the beginning of history, making it possible to study the original text of not only very famous documents, but also the text of less well known but significant documents.
Constitution USA with Peter Sagal (PBS)
Watch online episodes as Peter Sagal travels across the country in search of where the U.S. Constitution lives, how it works and how it doesn’t… how it unites us as a nation and how it has nearly torn us apart.
National Constitution Center
The National Constitution Center's website has links to exhibition details, educational programs, interactive learning tools and the Peter Jennings Project for Journalists and the Constitution.
Project on Government Oversight
The Constitution Project, based at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute, monitors constitutional issues and provides bipartisan analysis.
Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention
Contains 277 documents relating to the work of Congress and the drafting and ratification of the Constitution. Items include extracts of the journals of Congress, resolutions, proclamations, committee reports, treaties, and early printed versions of the United States Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.