LIBRARY
2024 Constitution Day
Articles of Confederation
What was the United States formed under before the current Constitution? The Articles of Confederation.
Was George Washington really the first executive officer of the United States? See list of presidents under the Articles of Confederation below.
As the Revolutionary War came to a close, Alexander Hamilton resigned in disgust from the Continental Congress after it refused to consider a fundamental reform to the Articles of Confederation. Four years later that same government collapsed and Congress grudgingly agreed to the 1787 Philadelphia Constitutional Convention, which altered the Articles beyond recognition.
- Presidents under Articles of ConfederationDid you know that the Articles of Confederation created an executive office titled President of the United States in Congress Assembled?
Democracy in America by Call Number: onlineISBN: 9781577997665Publication Date: 2016-11-09A New Abridgement of a Classic on the American Experiment. ?As debates rage over the future of America and the country's relationship to its past, there is no better time to examine the American culture from the perspective of a nineteenth century French thinker and student of democracy. Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America, written in French in the early 19th century, is seen as a classic of American political and cultural studies. However, the expansive 2--volume original has never seen an accessible version that remains true to the original text. This new abridgement of Francis Bowen's 1864 translation keeps Tocqueville's thought intact. All chapters have been retained and no sentences have been divided. This volume offers a clear window into American political history and a concise approach to this classic outsider's perspective on the United States. A new introduction by editor John D. Wilsey further interprets and applies Tocqueville's thought for the modern student of American institutions, politics, religion, and society.
The Federalist Papers by Call Number: OnlineISBN: 9781504060998Publication Date: 2020-03-03Eighty-five articles and essays by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison that interpret and promote the US Constitution. Three of America's Founding Fathers--Alexander Hamilton, General George Washington's chief of staff and first secretary of the treasury; John Jay, the first chief justice of the United States; and James Madison, father of the Constitution, author of the Bill of Rights, and fourth president of the United States--embarked on an anonymous public relations campaign to promote the ratification of the US Constitution. Beginning in 1787, their articles appeared in three New York newspapers: The Independent Journal, the New-York Packet, and the Daily Advertiser. Written under the pseudonym Publius, their writings were a masterful analysis and interpretation of the Constitution, explaining the principles upon which the US government was founded. To this day, the Federalist Papers remain "an authoritative resource for academics, lawyers, and judges--including Supreme Court justices--to use to interpret the Constitution and to determine its original, or historic, meaning" (National Constitution Center).
