Ratification of the Constitution

Each year we celebrate Constitution Day to celebrate the signing of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787. It took, however, until 1791 for the Constitution to be ratified by the States. This is a period constitutional researchers should be cognizant of and the law library has recently acquired an electronic resource to help with that research. The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution is now available to the BYU law school community as well as those who come to our library. The University of Virginia Press provides this description:

A landmark work in historical and legal scholarship, The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights draws upon thousands of sources to trace this Constitution’s progress through each of the thirteen states’ conventions. The ratification process is followed through writings in contemporary newspapers, books, and pamphlets, private letters, and the official state records. Also included are numerous constitutional documents predating the ratification process, as well as the documents related to the adoption of the Bill of Rights. The result is the most comprehensive resource on the evolution of American constitutional thought from 1781 to 1791.

The Law Library maintains a print copy of this work on the 3d floor (KF 4502 .D63), but we think adding the ability to keyword search will be beneficial to researchers.