Timeline of the Constitution of the United States

1781

The Articles of Confederation and the Battle of Yorktown

1787-1789

The Constitutional Convention and the Constitution

1803

Marbury vs. Madison

1776

Congress Declares Independence

1783

The Treaty of Paris

1791

The Bill of Rights

1861-1865

The Civil War

Timeline of the Constitution of the United States

1775

The Revolutionary War Begins

Created by Lauren Hall

This is a digital file from an original print titled, The Battle of Lexington. It features a line of Minute Men being fired upon by British soldiers during the battle. The Battle of Lexington. (ca. 1903). Massachusetts Lexington, Boston: Published by John H. Daniels & Son, Jan. 15. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2004669976/. Public Domain image.

This is a digital scan of the Declaration of Independence. The original document can be seen at the National Archives Museum in Washington, D.C. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. (2022, June 30). The Declaration of Independence. https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration. Public Domain image.

This image depicts the surrender of British Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown. The original painting is an oil on canvas by John Trumbull. It hangs in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. Trumbull, J. (1826). Surrender of Lord Cornwallis [Oil on Canvas, Electronic resource]. Architect of the Capitol. Retrieved from https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/surrender-lord-cornwallis. Public Domain image.

This is an image of the original Treaty of Paris which is held in the National Archives. Treaty of Paris; 9/3/1783; Perfected Treaties, 1778 - 1945; General Records of the United States Government, Record Group 11; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/treaty-of-paris, August 28, 2022]

This image is a digital scan of the first page of the United States Constitution. The original Constitution is on display at the National Archives Museum in Washington, D.C. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. (2022, June 17). The Constitution of the United States. https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution. Public Domain image.

This image is a digital scan of the Bill of Rights. The original document is on display at the National Archives Museum in Washington, D.C. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. (2022, February 15). The Bill of Rights. https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights. Public Domain image.

This is a digital scan of the show-cause order served on James Madison, Secretary of State, 1802. The document was damaged in the 1898 fire in the U.S. Capitol. Show-cause order served on James Madison, Secretary of State, 1802; Records of the Supreme Court of the United States; Record Group 267; National Archives. (The document shows damage from the 1898 fire in the Capitol Building.) Retrieved from https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/marbury-v-madison. Public Domain Image.

This is a digital scan of a photograph taken by Alexander Gardner sometime in September or October of 1862. It features President Abraham Lincoln at the Battle of Antietam. Gardner, A., photographer. (1862) Antietam, Md. Allan Pinkerton, President Lincoln, and Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand; another view. United States Maryland Antietam, 1862. October 3. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2018666255/.

The Battles of Lexington and Concord The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military battles of the American Revolutionary War and were fought on April 19, 1775. British troops planned to destroy Colonial ammunition supplies stored in Concord. When the Revolutionaries learned of the British plan, they sent several riders, including Paul Revere, to the Lexington and Concord area to warn of the British plans. When the British (known as redcoats) arrived at Lexington the next morning, they found several dozen minutemen waiting for them on the town's common. Someone fired, though no one knows who fired first, and eight minutemen were killed. The British then marched to Concord where they broke into companies to search for ammunition and supplies. Fighting between the militiamen and the British continued throughout the day and as the British returned to Boston resulting in fatalities on both sides. Recommended Resources for Further Research Resources Available From the CSU Stanislaus Library:

• Brown, R. D. (Ed.). (1992). Major problems in the era of the American Revolution, 1760-1791: Documents and essays. D.C. Heath.This book introduces readers to both primary sources and analytical essays on important topics during the era of the American Revolution.
• Fischer, D. H. (1995). Paul Revere’s ride. Oxford University Press.In this book, David Hackett Fischer, discusses the events that led to Paul Revere’s ride and offers insights into the American Revolution.
• Greene, J. P., & Pole, J. R. (Eds.). (1991). The Blackwell encyclopedia of the American Revolution. Blackwell Reference.This is an encyclopedia of events, documents, and political processes concerning the American Revolution, including events proceeding the Revolution as well as its aftermath.
• Kendi, I. X., & Blair, K. N. (Eds.). (2021). Four hundred souls: A community history of African America, 1619-2019. One World.Four Hundred Souls is a one-volume history of African Americans. The editors, Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain, have assembled ninety writers, each of whom takes on a five-year period of the four-hundred-year span covered by the book.
• Parkinson, R. G. (2016). The common cause : Creating race and nation in the American Revolution. Published for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Virginia, by the University of North Carolina Press.In this book, Robert Parkinson argues that political and communications leaders of the American Revolution manipulated newspaper networks and linked British tyranny to colonial prejudices, stereotypes, and fears about insurrectionary slaves and violent Indians in order to unify the colonies. The author argues that the founding fathers rallied the people around a common enemy and made racial prejudice a cornerstone of the new Republic.
• Phillips, K. (2013). 1775: A good year for revolution. Penguin Books.In this book, historian Kevin Phillips argues that 1775 was the watershed year of the American Revolution due to a wide variety of events that occurred during this year such as the Continental Congress’s economic ultimatums to Britain. Phillips discusses the political climate, military preparations, and economic structures of the time to further elucidate the origins of the American Revolution.
• Rhodehamel, J. H. (2001). (Ed.). The American Revolution: Writings from the War of Independence. Literary Classics of the United States.This book is a comprehensive collection of writings from the War of Independence such as letters, diaries, newspaper articles, and public declarations from over seventy participants and eyewitnesses.
• Savas, T. P., & Dameron, J. D. (2006). A guide to the battles of the American Revolution (1st ed.). Savas Beatie.This book is a comprehensive guide to every battle and engagement of the American Revolution, from Lexington Green to the Siege of Yorktown.
• Silvey, A. (2010). Henry Knox: Bookseller, soldier, patriot (W. Minor, Illus.). Clarion Books.This is an illustrated children's biography about the Founding Father, Henry Knox.
• Smith, L. (2006). John, Paul, George & Ben (1st ed.). Hyperion Books for Children.This is an illustrated children's book about five little boys who grew up to be Founding Fathers.
• Taylor, A. (2016). American revolutions : A continental history, 1750-1804 (1st ed.). W.W. Norton & Company.The American Revolution is often portrayed as an orderly event, culminating with the creation of the Constitution. Alan Taylor, argues against this portrayal, and instead demonstrates that the American Revolution grew out of local conditions, resistance to control, the desire for westward expansion, and seaboard resistance to British taxes. The American Revolution was not orderly but exhibited violent guerilla warfare along the frontier and ultimately set the stage for the Civil War.
• Wilcox, J. E. (2012). Revolutionary secrets: Cryptology in the American Revolution. Center for Cryptologic History, National Security Agency. This work discusses the use of cyphers and codes in the American Revolution.

Links to Other Resources:

• Digital Public Library of America: Road to Revolution 1763-1776This is a set of digitized primary sources that focuses on events, legislation, and perspectives from both sides during the years prior to the American Revolution.
• Library of Congress: American Revolution: A Resource GuideThis guide, created by the Library of Congress, contains links to digital materials related to the American Revolution that are available through the Library of Congress website. It also includes a bibliography and links to other websites that focus on the American Revolution. The bibliography includes reading recommendations for both general and younger readers.
• Library of Congress: The American Revolution, 1763 - 1783This resource from the Library of Congress is part of the U.S. History Primary Source Timeline and contains background information about events before, during, and after the Revolutionary War as well as links to primary sources available through the Library of Congress.
• Library of Congress: American Revolution and Its Era: Maps and Charts of North America and the West Indies, 1750 to 1789This collection contains over 2,000 maps that depict North American and the West Indies before and after the Revolutionary War.
• Library of Congress: British Spy Map of Lexington and Concord: A Detective StoryThis article by Ed Redmond discusses the work of British spies in the Lexington and Concord countryside.
• Library of Congress: First Shots of War, 1775This resource from the Library of Congress is part of the U.S. History Primary Source Timeline and contains background information about the Battles of Lexington and Concord and links to primary sources.
• Library of Congress: George Washington's PapersThe papers of George Washington (1732-1799) held in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress constitute the largest collection of original Washington papers in the world. They consist of approximately 77,000 items accumulated by Washington between 1745 and 1799, including correspondence, diaries, and financial and military records.
• Library of Congress: Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789The Journals of the Continental Congress (1774-1791) are the records of the daily proceedings of the Congress and include the text of ordinances, reports to Congress and correspondence with the colonies, states, foreign powers and others.
• Library of Congress: Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774-1789The twenty-six volumes of the Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774-1789 aims to make available all the documents written by delegates that bear directly upon their work during their years of actual service in the First and Second Continental Congresses, 1774-1789.
• Library of Congress: Religion and the Founding of the American RepublicThis online exhibit from the Library of Congress discusses the role of religion in the American Revolution.
• Library of Congress: Rochambeau Map CollectionThe Rochambeau Map Collection contains cartographic items used by Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau (1725-1807), when he was commander in chief of the French expeditionary army (1780-82) during the American Revolution.
• Library of Congress: Today in History - April 19: Lexington and Concord | Yankee DoodleThis webpage by the Library of Congress gives information about the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the use of the song "Yankee Doodle" during these battles and throughout the Revolutionary War. It also links to other resources for information on the Revolutionary War.
• Massachusetts Historical Society: Letter from Paul Revere to Jeremy Belknap, circa 1798In this letter, written at the request of Jeremy Belknap, Paul Revere summarizes his activities on April 18th and 19th in 1775.
• Massachusetts Historical Society: Paul Revere's deposition, fair copy, circa 1775This is a deposition prepared by Paul Revere for the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and it contains an account of his ride to Lexington.
• Museum of the American Revolution: Virtual Museum TourThe Museum of the American Revolution offers a variety of virtual tours and interactive activities about the American Revolution.
• National Archives: The American RevolutionThe U.S. National Archives and Records Administration holds military service records from the Revolutionary War, including both Continental troops and state troops that served as Continental troops. Researchers can find documents and information relating to the Continental Congress, bounty land records, judicial records, prisoner records, pension records, and military service records from the Revolutionary War.
• National Archives: Pictures of the Revolutionary WarView works of art held by the National Archives that depict the progression of the Revolutionary War, the period after the Revolution, and portraits of prominent individuals.

Congress Declares Independence The Second Continental Congress, which functioned as the national government for the colonies, convened on May 10, 1775 after the Battles of Lexington and Concord. On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress passed the Lee Resolution, also known as The Resolution for Independence, which asserted that the colonies were "free and independent states." The Committee of Five (John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman) had been drafting The Declaration of Independence since June in anticipation of Congress voting on independence. The Declaration of Independence, formally titled The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, explains why the colonies regarded themselves as independent states and why Congress decided to declare independence from Britain. The Declaration of Independence was officially ratified on July 4, 1776. Recommended Resources for Further Research Resources Available From the CSU Stanislaus Library:

• Allen, D. S. (2014). Our Declaration: A reading of the Declaration of Independence in defense of equality (1st ed.). Liveright Publishing Corporation, a Division of W.W. Norton & Company.Danielle Allen, a political philosopher, combines a personal account of teaching the Declaration of Independence with a discussion of the colonial world between 1774 and 1777. Challenging conventional descriptions of the Declaration, Allen argues that the Declaration is a document not just about individual rights, but about political equality.
• Beeman, R. R. (2013). Our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor: The forging of American independence, 1774-1776. Basic Books.In this work, historian Richard R. Beeman examines the twenty-two-month period between the meeting of the Continental Congress on September 5, 1774 and the decision for independence in July of 1776. Beeman tells the story of how the delegates to the Continental Congress began to dedicate themselves to the forging of American independence.
• Castonovo, R. (2014). Propaganda 1776: Secrets, leaks, and revolutionary communications in early America. Oxford University Press.Drawing on a variety of primary sources, Russ Castronovo demonstrates how the propagation of information and opinion across newspapers, pamphlets, broadsides, letters, songs, and poems of the eighteenth century helped spur the American Revolution. Through tracking the movements of stolen documents and leaked confidential letters, this book argues that media dissemination created a vital connection between propaganda and democracy.
• Ellis, J. J. (2014). Revolutionary summer: The birth of American independence. Vintage Books.During the summer of 1776 the thirteen colonies came together and seceded from British Empire. While the colonies declared their independence, the British were sending the largest armada ever to cross the Atlantic to crush the colonist’s rebellion. In this book, historian Joseph Ellis examines influential figures during this momentous summer, including George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Britain's Admiral Lord Richard and General William Howe. Ellis elucidates the political and military experiences of both sides and demonstrates how events on one side influenced outcomes on the other.
• Finkelman, P., & Lesh, B. A. (Eds.). (2008). Milestone documents in American history: Exploring the primary sources that shaped America. Schlager Group.Milestone Documents in American History offers in-depth, analytical essays of primary source documents from U.S history. Each entry includes the full text of the document being analyzed as well as an in-depth, analytical essay that places the document in its historical context.
• Fradin, D. B. (2002). The signers: The fifty-six stories behind the Declaration of Independence (M. McCurdy, Illus.) Walker.In this children’s book, author Dennis Brindell Fradin and illustrator Michael McCurdy discuss and illustrate the lives of the fifty-six men who dared to sign the Declaration of Independence.
• Jefferson, T. (2005). The autobiography of Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1790 together with a summary of the chief events in Jefferson’s life (P. L. Ford, Ed.). University of Pennsylvania Press. https://doi.org/10.9783/9780812200102This autobiography by Thomas Jefferson illuminates Jefferson’s opinions, personal history, and political views.
• Shuffelton, F. (Ed.). (2009). The Cambridge companion to Thomas Jefferson (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press.This book provides an introduction to Thomas Jefferson including his political thoughts, his policies towards Native Americans, his attitude towards race and slavery, as well as his interests in science, architecture, religion and education.

Links to Other Resources:

• Library of Congress: American Founders: A Guide to Their Online Papers and PublicationsThis guide provides links to the digitized papers and online archives of the men who served in or as diplomats for the Continental Congresses, the Constitutional Convention, and the Federal government of the United States until the close of the War of 1812.
• Library of Congress: Creating a Continental ArmyThis resource from the Library of Congress is part of the U.S. History Primary Source Timeline and contains background information about the Continental Army and links to primary sources.
• Library of Congress: Creating the United States: Creating the Declaration of IndependenceCreating the United States: Creating the Declaration of Independence is an online exhibit of the Library of Congress. This exhibition focuses on the creation of the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and the Bill of Rights and demonstrates that they are living instruments central to the evolution of the United States.
• Library of Congress: Declaration of Independence: Primary Documents in American HistoryThis guide was created by the Library of Congress and provides access to digital materials held by the Library of Congress. The guide also includes a print bibliography and links to external websites.
• Library of Congress: Revolutionary War: Northern Front, 1775-1777This resource from the Library of Congress is part of the U.S. History Primary Source Timeline and contains background information about the Revolutionary War and links to primary source documents about George Washington and the Declaration of Independence.
• Library of Congress: Thomas JeffersonThis exhibit from the Library of Congress focuses on Thomas Jefferson, including his work drafting the Declaration of Independence.
• Library of Congress: Thomas Jefferson Papers, 1606 to 1827The papers of Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) consist mainly of his correspondence, but they also include his drafts of the Declaration of Independence, drafts of Virginia laws, his fragmentary autobiography, ciphers, observations, and more.
• Monticello.org: The Declaration of IndependenceThe Thomas Jefferson Foundation owns and restores Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello. The foundation has a dual mission of education and preservation. This webpage has information regarding Thomas Jefferson's role in writing the Declaration of Independence. Researchers can read or listen to the final version of the Declaration of Independence as well as Jefferson's rough draft of the Declaration.
• National Archives: Founders OnlineFounders Online is administered by the National Archives and Records Administration in partnership with the University of Virginia Press. Researchers can search over 185,000 fully annotated documents from George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams (and family), Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison.
• National Archives: The Declaration of IndependenceThe National Archives houses and preserves the Declaration of Independence. Visit their website to view the front and back of the Declaration of Independence, read about the document's meaning and history, and learn about the creation of the parchment document.

The Articles of Confederation and the Battle of Yorktown The Articles of Confederation, formally called the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, served as the United States' first constitution. After the Lee Resolution, the Second Continental Congress created a committee to determine the frame of government for the confederated colonies. The Dickinson Draft of the Articles of Confederation named the confederation the "United States of America" and after being revised was adopted on November 15, 1777. The Battle of Yorktown, also known as the Siege of Yorktown, the surrender at Yorktown, or the German Battle, began on September 28, 1781 and ended on October 19, 1781 in Yorktown, Virginia. It was a decisive battle in the Revolutionary War and proved a victory for the combined forces of the American Continental Army and the French Army troops over the British Army Troops. The American Continental Army was led by George Washington and Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. The French troops were led by Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau. The British Army troops were led by Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis. General Cornwallis capitulated on October 17 and after two days of negotiation an official surrender ceremony occurred on October 19th. The Battle of Yorktown was the last major land battle of the Revolutionary War and the surrender of Cornwallis and the capture of the British troops led to peace negotiations between the Americans and the British. Recommended Resources for Further Research Resources available from the CSU Stanislaus Library:Articles of Confederation

• Bredhoff, S. (with Carlin, J. W., & Brinkley, D.). (2001). American originals. National Archives and Records Administration.American Originals presents a selection of the United States' most significant documents which provide information about the Revolutionary War, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Helen Keller, Elvis Presley, John Muir, Rosa Parks, Benedict Arnold, John Brown, Susan B. Anthony, and many others.
• Finkelman, P., & Lesh, B. A. (Eds.). (2008). Milestone documents in American history: Exploring the primary sources that shaped America. Schlager Group.Milestone Documents in American History offers in-depth, analytical essays of primary source documents from U.S history. Each entry includes the full text of the document being analyzed as well as an in-depth, analytical essay that places the document in its historical context.
• Hendrickson, D. C. (2003). Peace pact: The lost world of the American founding. University Press of Kansas.In Peace Pact: The Lost World of the American Founding, Hendrickson discusses the founding of the United States and argues that the founding fathers developed a sophisticated science of international politics relevant both to the construction of their own union and to the foreign relations of the several states. In this work, Hendrickson views the Constitution as a peace pact or experiment in international cooperation.
• Wood, G. S. (2003). The American Revolution: A history. Modern Library.In this book, professor and historian, Gordon S. Wood, provides a short history of the American Revolution and its causes and consequences.

Battle of Yorktown

• Carrington, H. B. (1974). Battle maps and charts of the American Revolution: With explanatory notes and school history references (Enlarged ed.). Arno Press.This reprint of the 1881 work features enlarged battle maps of the American Revolution.
• Cook, D. (1996). The long fuse: How England lost the American colonies. Atlantic Monthly Press.Author Don Cook provides an account of the American Revolution from the British side. Drawing on primary sources, Cook reveals the mistakes and political blunders that led to the loss of the colonies.
• Freedman, R. (2010). Lafayette and the American Revolution (1st ed.). Holiday House.Winner of the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal in 2011, this children's biography discusses Lafayette's contributions to the American Revolution.
• Keegan, J. (1996). Fields of battle: The wars for North America (1st American ed.). A.A. Knopf.Spanning over two-hundred years, military historian John Keegan discusses the battlefields of North America.
• Ketchum, R. M. (2004). Victory at Yorktown: The campaign that won the Revolution (1st ed.). Henry Holt.Historian Richard M. Ketchum discusses the military leaders and strategies that led to the victory at Yorktown.
• Riley, J. (2010). Decisive battles: From Yorktown to Operation Desert Storm. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.British military historian Jonathon Riley draws on his personal experience as a soldier to explore the definitive battles of the modern era from Yorktown in 1781 to Operation Desert Storm in 1991. The author argues that each battle outlined in this book served as a turning point that changed the course of history.

Links to Other Resources:Articles of Confederation

• Library of Congress: Articles of Confederation: Primary Documents in American HistoryThis guide by the Library of Congress provides access to digital materials at the Library of Congress, links to related external websites, and a selected print bibliography.
• Library of Congress: Polices and Problems of the Confederation GovernmentThis section of the U.S. History Primary Source Timeline by the Library of Congress provides background information about the Continental Congress and links to primary source documents from this period.
• National Archives: The Articles of Confederation (1777)The National Archives houses and preserves the Articles of Confederation. Visit their website to view the document, read about the document's meaning and history, and read a transcript of the document.

Battle of Yorktown

• American Battlefield Trust: Battle of YorktownRead facts and information about the Battle of Yorktown from the American Battlefield Trust, a non-profit organization that works to preserve American battlefields and educate the public.
• George Washington's Mount Vernon: The Yorktown Campaign of 1781Visit the George Washington's Mount Vernon website to watch a presentation on the Battle of Yorktown, view maps of the campaign, and read the Articles of Capitulation. Mount Vernon is owned and maintained by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union, a private, non-profit organization.
• Library of Congress: Plan d'York en Virginie avec les attaques faites par les Armées françoise et américaine en 8bre. 1781. (Map depicting the movements of the French and American armies during the Battle of Yorktown)This pen-and-ink and watercolor manuscript map shows the movements of the French and American armies in the vicinity of York, Virginia, in October 1781, during the Battle of Yorktown. The map is by Querenet de la Combe, a cartographer and lieutenant colonel of engineers with the army of the French commander, General Rochambeau.
• Library of Congress: Revolutionary War: Groping Toward Peace, 1781-1783This section of the U.S. History Primary Source Timeline by the Library of Congress provides background information about the end of the Revolutionary War and links to primary source documents from this period.

The Treaty of Paris, 1783 The Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783 and marked the official end to the American Revolution. Article 1 of the Treaty of Paris also officially recognized the United States as an independent nation. Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Henry Laurens, and John Adams were representatives for the United States during the peace negotiations. David Hartley and Richard Oswald represented Great Britain. France, Spain, and the Netherlands were also involved in the negotiations. The treaty and the separate peace treaties between Great Britain and France, Spain, and the Netherlands are known collectively as the Peace of Paris. Recommended Resources for Further Research Resources available from the CSU Stanislaus Library:

• Bemis, S. F. (1957). The diplomacy of the American Revolution. Indiana University Press.In this book, historian Samuel Flagg Bemis explores the secret diplomatic communiqués between the Americans and the French, George Washington's spy ring, and other diplomatic initiatives during the Revolutionary War.

• Brown, R. D. (Ed.). (1992). Major problems in the era of the American Revolution, 1760-1791: Documents and essays. D.C. Heath.This book introduces readers to both primary sources and analytical essays on important topics during the era of the American Revolution.
• Hoffman, R., & Albert, P. J. (Eds.). (1986). Peace and the peacemakers: The treaty of 1783. Published for the United States Capitol Historical Society by the University Press of Virginia.This edited volume includes scholarly essays discussing the diplomacy, consequences, and objectives of the Treaty of Paris, 1783.
• Maestro, B. (2009). A new nation: The United States, 1783-1815 (G. Maestro, Illus.; 1st ed.). HarperCollins.In this children's book, author Betsy Maestro discusses the history of the United States after the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783 through the War of 1812.
• Morris, R. B. (1965). The peacemakers: The great powers and American independence (1st ed.). Harper & Row.In this book, historian Richard Brandon Morris discusses the foreign relations of the United States and the diplomacy surrounding the Treaty of Paris in 1783.
• Silverman, K. (1976). A cultural history of the American Revolution: Painting, music, literature, and the theatre in the Colonies and the United States from the Treaty of Paris to the Inauguration of George Washington, 1763-1789. T.Y. Crowell.This book discusses the cultural aspects of colonial history from the first Treaty of Paris in 1763, which ended the French and Indian War, through the inauguration of George Washington in 1789.

Links to Other Resources:

• Library of Congress: American Founders: A Guide to Their Online Papers and PublicationsThis guide was created by the Library of Congress and serves as a portal to the online words of the men who served in or as diplomats for the Continental Congresses, the Constitutional Convention, and the Federal government of the United States until the close of the War of 1812.
• Library of Congress: Benjamin Franklin: In His Own WordsThis exhibit from the Library of Congress focuses on Benjamin Franklin's public, professional, and scientific accomplishments, including his work negotiating the Treaty of Paris.
• Library of Congress: Benjamin Franklin: Man of Business and ScienceThis guide was created by the Library of Congress. It gathers books and other resources to aid researchers interested in Franklin's business and science achievements. Also included are general works, such as biographies, some of which are written by Franklin himself.
• Library of Congress: Benjamin Franklin Collection: A Resource GuideThis guide was created by the Library of Congress and serves a resource for the library's Benjamin Franklin Collection which includes works by and about Benjamin Franklin.
• Library of Congress: Benjamin Franklin PapersAvailable through the Library of Congress, the papers of statesman, publisher, scientist, and diplomat Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) consist of approximately 8,000 items spanning the years 1726 to 1907, with most dating from the 1770s and 1780s.
• Library of Congress: John Adams: A Resource GuideThis guide was created by the Library of Congress and compiles digital materials related to Adams at the Library of Congress, external websites, and a selected print bibliography.
• Library of Congress: The Treaty of Paris: Primary Documents in American HistoryThis guide was created by the Library of Congress and provides access to digital materials about the Treaty of Paris at the Library of Congress, links to external websites, and a print bibliography. Digital materials accessible through the guide include manuscripts, government documents, and newspaper articles.
• National Archives: Founders OnlineFounders Online is administered by the National Archives and Records Administration in partnership with the University of Virginia Press. Researchers can search over 185,000 fully annotated documents from George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams (and family), Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison.
• National Archives: The Treaty of Paris (1783)The National Archives houses and preserves the Treaty of Paris (1783). Visit their website to view the Treaty of Paris, read a transcript of the document, and read about the document's meaning and history.

The Constitutional Convention and the Constitution of the United States The Constitutional Convention met in the Philadelphia State House in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from May 25 to September 17, 1787. The convention was called in response to economic problems created by the weak central government set forth by the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation gave the Congress of the Confederation the power to make rules and request funds from the states, but it had no enforcement powers and could not regulate commerce or print money. The states’ also had disputes over territory, taxation, and trade which the Confederation Congress was unable to control. Finally, in 1787, Daniel Shays led four thousand rebels in an unsuccessful attempt to seize weaponry at the Springfield Armory and overthrow the government. The weak federal government found itself unable to finance troops to put down the rebellion which was eventually put down by the Massachusetts State militia and a privately funded local militia. Shay's Rebellion demonstrated the weakness of the federal government and the problems with the Articles of Confederation. At first, the convention was called to reform the Articles of Confederation, however, some delegates such as James Madison and Alexander Hamilton wanted to create a new frame of government rather than revise the Articles of Confederation. The Constitutional Convention resulted in the creation of a new frame of government, The Constitution of the United States. After three months of debate, on September 17, 1787, 39 delegates signed the Constitution with George Reed signing for John Dickinson of Delaware, who was absent. The Constitution then had to undergo a ratification process that required at least 9 states to ratify the document. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay advocated for the ratification of the Constitution by writing a series of eighty-five essays known as "The Federalist Papers" which explained how the government would function under the Constitution. These essays were published serially in newspapers. Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut quickly ratified the document, but other states such as Massachusetts opposed the document because it failed to enumerate rights such as freedom of speech. In February 1788, the Massachusetts Compromise was reached which was an agreement between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists that if states would agree to ratify the Constitution that amendments to the document would be proposed. This compromise helped lead to the ratification of the Constitution as well as the creation and adoption of the Bill of Rights. The Constitution was then ratified in Massachusetts, Maryland, and South Carolina. New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution on June 21, 1788. Virginia ratified the Constitution in June and New York did as well in July. Rhode Island did not ratify the Constitution until May 29, 1790. The Constitution and new frame of government for the United States went into effect on March 4, 1789. The Constitution is composed of seven articles which establish the powers of the branches of the federal government and the rights and responsibilities of the state governments. The first three articles of the Constitution establish the separation of powers doctrine and divides the federal government into three separate branches: the executive, the judicial, and the legislative. Article I establishes the legislative branch of the federal government with a bicameral Congress. Article II establishes the executive branch and the powers of the president. Article III establishes the judicial branch and the Supreme Court of the United States. Article IV establishes the relationship between states and the relationship between the state governments and the federal government. Article V describes the process for amending the Constitution. Article VI establishes the supremacy clause of the Constitution which articulates that when state law is in conflict with federal law the federal law preempts state law. Article VII establishes the ratification process of the Constitution. Twenty-seven amendments have also been made to the Constitution. The first ten amendments are called the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights outlines personal freedoms and rights, and limitations on the government's power in judicial proceedings. The tenth amendment also establishes that all powers not specifically granted to the federal government by the Constitution are reserved for the states or the people. Recommended Resources for Further Research Resources available from the CSU Stanislaus Library:

• Bailyn, B. (Ed.). (1993). The debate on the Constitution: Federalist and Antifederalist speeches, articles, and letters during the struggle over ratification. Literary Classics of the United States.This edited volume assembles hundreds of newspaper articles, pamphlets, speeches, and private letters written or delivered following the Constitutional Convention. In addition to familiar figures like Franklin, Madison, Patrick Henry, Jefferson, and Washington, less famous citizens are also represented. The most famous writings of the ratification struggle, the Federalist essays of Hamilton and Madison, are placed in their original context, alongside the arguments of able antagonists, such as "Brutus" and the "Federal Farmer." All documents are in chronological order.
• Finkelman, P., & Lesh, B. A. (Eds.). (2008). Milestone documents in American history: Exploring the primary sources that shaped America. Schlager Group.Milestone Documents in American History offers in-depth, analytical essays of primary source documents from U.S history. Each entry includes the full text of the document being analyzed as well as an in-depth, analytical essay that places the document in its historical context.
• Fritz, J. (1987). Shh! we’re writing the Constitution (T. DePaola, Illus.). G.P. Putnam’s Sons.This children's book written by Jean Fritz and illustrated by Tomie DePaola, portrays the events of the Constitutional Convention.
• Hamilton, A., Madison, J., & Jay, J., & Rakove, J. N. (2003). The Federalist. (J. N. Rakove, Ed.). Bedford/St. Martin’s.The Federalist, often referred to as the Federalist Papers, is a series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison between October 1787 and May 1788 in support of the ratification of the Constitution.
• Hennessey, J. (2008). The United States Constitution: A graphic adaptation (A. McConnell, Illus.). Hill and Wang.This illustrated book, in the style of a graphic novel, discusses the Constitution, the ratification period, and the Bill of Rights.
• Klarman, M. J. (2016). The framers’ coup: The making of the United States Constitution. Oxford University Press.The Framers' Coup explains the motives of the Founding Fathers during the Constitutional Convention as well as illustrates key events that occurred during that time period. Michael Klarman demonstrates how the Framers' clashing interests shaped the Constitution and American history itself.
• Maier, P. (2010). Ratification : The people debate the Constitution, 1787-1788. Simon & Schuster.Historian Pauline Maier chronicles the pivotal moments and key figures that transformed the Constitution from an idea into a foundational document and the Constitutional Convention into a working government.
• Ross, R. E. (2019). The Framers’ intentions : The myth of the nonpartisan Constitution. University of Notre Dame Press.In The Framers’ Intentions, Robert E. Ross connects political parties and the two-party system with the Constitution thereby providing a foundation for parties and a party system within American constitutionalism.
• Tushnet, M., Graber, M. A., & Levinson, S. (Eds.). (2016). The Oxford handbook of the U.S. Constitution. Oxford University Press. The Oxford Handbook of the U.S. Constitution offers a comprehensive overview and introduction to the U.S. Constitution from the perspectives of history, political science, law, rights, and constitutional themes, while focusing on its development, structures, rights, and role in the U.S. political system and culture.

Links to Other Resources:

• Constitution AnnotatedThe Constitution Annotated provides an overview of how the Constitution has been interpreted over time. The Constitution Annotated also includes discussions of the Supreme Court's latest opinions. Researcher's can browse explanations by Articles of the Constitution or Amendments to the Constitution. There are also links to additional resources such as a table of Supreme Court decisions overruled by subsequent decisions.
• Digital Public Library of America: Creating the US ConstitutionThis is a set of digitized primary sources such as letters, magazine articles, and legal documents that focuses on the creation of the United States Constitution.
• Library of Congress: Alexander Hamilton: A Resource GuideThis resource guide from the Library of Congress links to digital materials related to Hamilton such as manuscripts, letters, broadsides, government documents, and images that are available throughout the Library of Congress website. In addition, it provides links to external websites focusing on Hamilton and a bibliography containing selected works for both a general audience and younger readers.
• Library of Congress: Alexander Hamilton Papers: Speeches and Writings File, 1778-1804; 1787; Constitutional Convention; [June 1-26], notes taken in the conventionView digital scans of notes taken by Alexander Hamilton during the Constitutional Convention that are available on the Library of Congress website.
• Library of Congress: Alexander Hamilton Papers: Speeches and Writings File, 1778-1804; 1787; Constitutional Convention; [June 18], "Notes for Speech in the Convention proposing a Plan of Government"View digital scans of notes for a speech by Alexander Hamilton during the Constitutional Convention. This is available on the Library of Congress website.
• Library of Congress: Alexander Hamilton Papers: Speeches and Writings File, 1778-1804; 1787; Constitutional Convention; [Sept. 17-30], "Conjectures about the New Constitution"View digital scans of notes about the Constitution by Alexander Hamilton. This is available on the Library of Congress website.
• Library of Congress: American Founders: A Guide to Their Online Papers and PublicationsThis guide was created by the Library of Congress and serves as a portal to the online words of the men who served in or as diplomats for the Continental Congresses, the Constitutional Convention, and the Federal government of the United States until the close of the War of 1812.
• Library of Congress: Constitution of the United States: Primary Documents in American HistoryThis resource guide from the Library of Congress provides access to digital collections at the Library of Congress, external websites, and print materials related to the Constitution.
• Library of Congress: Continental Congress and the Constitutional ConventionUsers can access the Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789, Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774-1789, Elliot's Debates, 1787-1788, and Farrand's Records, 1787 via the Library of Congress website.
• Library of Congress: Creating the United States: Creating the Constitution Creating the United States: Creating the Constitution is an online exhibit of the Library of Congress. This exhibition focuses on the creation of the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and the Bill of Rights and demonstrates that they are living instruments central to the evolution of the United States.
• Library of Congress: Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774 to 1789This collection from the Library of Congress 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.
• Library of Congress: Federalist Papers: Primary Documents in American HistoryVisit the Library of Congress website for full text access to the original Federalist Papers (also known as The Federalist). The Federalist, commonly referred to as the Federalist Papers, is a series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison between October 1787 and May 1788 to urge New Yorkers to ratify the proposed United States Constitution.
• Library of Congress: Framing of the United States Constitution: A Beginner’s GuideThis research guide created by the Library of Congress contains sources regarding the creation and ratification of the United States Constitution.
• Library of Congress: George Washington: A Resource GuideThis research guide from the Library of Congress compiles digital materials at the Library of Congress, external websites, and a selected print bibliography about George Washington.
• Library of Congress: George Washington PapersThe papers of army officer and first U.S. president George Washington (1732-1799) held in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress constitute the largest collection of original Washington papers in the world.
• Library of Congress: James Madison: A Resource GuideThis research guide by the Library of Congress compiles digital materials related to Madison at the Library of Congress, external websites, and a selected print bibliography.
• Library of Congress: James Madison. James Madison's Original Notes on Debates at the Federal Constitutional Convention (Part 1 - ), Including IntroductionView James Madison's original notes on debates at the Federal Constitutional Convention via the Library of Congress.
• Library of Congress: James Madison and the Federal Constitutional Convention of 1787This essay from the Library of Congress discusses Madison as an intellectual leader and keeper of the memory of the gathering that created the United States Constitution in the summer of 1787.
• Library of Congress: James Madison PapersJames Madison (1751-1836) is one of 23 presidents whose papers are held by the Library of Congress. The Madison Papers consist of approximately 12,000 items, spanning the period 1723-1859, captured in some 37,714 digital images.
• Library of Congress: Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789The Journals of the Continental Congress (1774-1791) are the records of the daily proceedings of the Congress and include the text of ordinances, reports to Congress and correspondence with the colonies, states, foreign powers and others.
• Library of Congress: Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774-1789The twenty-six volumes of the Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774-1789 aims to make available all the documents written by delegates that bear directly upon their work during their years of actual service in the First and Second Continental Congresses, 1774-1789.
• Library of Congress: U.S. History Primary Source Timeline: The United States ConstitutionView primary source documents related to the creation of the United States Constitution in this timeline created by the Library of Congress.
• National Archives: The Constitution of the United StatesView digital scans of the United States Constitution, read transcripts of the founding document, and read articles about the Constitution on the National Archives website.
• National Archives: The Constitution of the United States - A HistoryRead a short history of the Constitution on the National Archives website.
• National Archives: Founders OnlineFounders Online is administered by the National Archives and Records Administration in partnership with the University of Virginia Press. Researchers can search over 185,000 fully annotated documents from George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams (and family), Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison.
• National Constitution Center: American Treasures: Documenting the Nation's FoundingView this virtual exhibit from the National Constitution Center that explores the drafting and ratification of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
• National Constitution Center: Constitution 101 CourseThe Constitution 101 course from the National Constitution Center provides learners of all ages with a basic understanding of the Constitution’s text, history, structure, and case law.
• National Constitution Center: Drafting the Constitution Learn about the drafting process of the Constitution and how provisions outlined in the document changed over the course of the Constitutional Convention.
• National Constitution Center: The Interactive ConstitutionLearn about the text, history, and meaning of the U.S. Constitution from leading scholars of diverse legal and philosophical perspectives on the National Constitution Center's Interactive Constitution website.

The Bill of Rights The Bill of Rights are the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States. The Bill of Rights is essentially a product of the Massachusetts Compromise where anti-federalists Samuel Adams and John Hancock agreed to ratify the Constitution on the condition that amendments were added to the Constitution concerning individual rights and states' rights. Anti-federalists were afraid of an over-centralized federal government and wanted guarantees for personal freedoms. The Bill of Rights outlines personal freedoms and rights, and limitations on the government's power in judicial proceedings. James Madison crafted a series of proposals for amendments to the Constitution. Congress approved twelve articles of amendment on September 25, 1789 and submitted them to the states for ratification. Articles Three through Twelve were ratified as addendums to the Constitution on December 15, 1791. These became Amendments One through Ten of the Constitution also known as the Bill of Rights. The second article was actually ratified in 1992 and became the Twenty-Seventh Amendment to the the Constitution. The First Amendment establishes freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right of the public to peaceably assemble, and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. The Second Amendment states that a well-regulated militia is necessary to the security of a free state and therefore gives citizens the right to keep and bear arms. The Third Amendment prohibits the government from quartering troops in private homes without the owner's consent. This was a response to the Quartering Acts the British passed prior to the Revolutionary War which required local governments in the colonies to provide British soldiers with housing and food. The Fourth Amendment protects the people from unreasonable searches and seizures. Searches by the government cannot be conducted without a warrant and warrants can only be issued when there is probable cause. Warrants must describe the place to be searched and the items or persons to be seized. The Fifth Amendment provides that citizens not be subject to criminal prosecution and punishment without due process. Citizens are also protected from double jeopardy and cannot be tried on the same set of facts twice. This amendment also protects from self-incrimination which has been interpreted to mean that individuals have the right to remain silent. The amendment also establishes that when the government takes private property under eminent domain that the owner receive just compensation. The Sixth Amendment establishes procedures governing criminal courts. It assures that individuals have the right to a speedy trial by a jury of one’s peers and to be informed of the charges against them. Citizens also have the right to confront the witnesses against them and to procure witnesses in their favor. The amendment also secures the right to legal representation. The Seventh Amendment codifies that civil cases have the right to trial by jury. The Eighth Amendment prohibits excessive bail and excessive fines. It also prohibits the infliction of cruel and unusual punishments. The Ninth Amendment was written by James Madison to ensure that the Bill of Rights was not interpreted as only granting the rights it specifically addressed. The Ninth Amendment states that the people retain all rights not expressly enumerated. The Tenth Amendment establishes that all powers not specifically granted to the federal government by the Constitution or prohibited to the states by the Constitution, are reserved for the states or the people. Recommended Resources for Further Research Resources available from the CSU Stanislaus Library:

• Amar, A. R. (1998). The Bill of Rights creation and reconstruction. Yale University Press.
• Bessler, J. D. (2012). Cruel & unusual: The American death penalty and the founders’ Eighth Amendment. Northeastern University Press.
• Finkelman, P., & Lesh, B. A. (Eds.). (2008). Milestone documents in American history: Exploring the primary sources that shaped America. Schlager Group.
• Freedman, R. (2003). In defense of liberty: The story of America’s Bill of Rights (1st ed.). Holiday House.
• Hoffman, R., & Albert, P. J. (Eds.). (1997). The Bill of Rights: Government proscribed. Published for the United States Capitol Historical Society by the University Press of Virginia.
• Klarman, M. J. (2016). The framers’ coup: The making of the United States Constitution. Oxford University Press.
• Labunski, R. E. (2006). James Madison and the struggle for the Bill of Rights. Oxford University Press.
• Levy, L. W. (1999). Origins of the Bill of Rights. Yale University Press.
• Peck, R. S. (1992). The Bill of Rights & the politics of interpretation. West Pub. Co.
• Wunder, J. R. (1994). “Retained by the people”: A history of American Indians and the Bill of Rights. Oxford University Press.

Links to Other Resources:

• Constitution Annotated
• Library of Congress: American Founders: A Guide to Their Online Papers and Publications
• Library of Congress: Bill of Rights: Primary Documents in American History
• Library of Congress: Creating the United States: Creating the Bill of Rights
• Library of Congress: James Madison: A Resource Guide
• Library of Congress: James Madison Papers
• National Archives: Amending America
• National Archives: The Bill of Rights
• National Archives: Documented Rights
• National Archives: Founders Online
• National Archives: Milestone Documents: The Bill of Rights
• National Archives: Records of Rights
• National Constitution Center: Interactive Constitution

Marbury v. Madison (1803) Marbury v. Madison was a landmark case of the Supreme Court that established the principle of judicial review which means that courts have the ability and power to strike down laws that they find to violate the Constitution. This case established that the Constitution of the United States was actual law and not just a statement of political ideals. The origins of this case grew out of the rivalry between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. In 1800, President John Adams lost to Thomas Jefferson in the presidential election. Before Jefferson could take office, Adams and Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1801 which reorganized the judiciary and allowed for last-minute appointments of new judges by John Adams. On March 2, 1801, two days before Thomas Jefferson was to be inaugurated as President, John Adams nominated 23 justices for Washington county and 19 justices in Alexandria county. The Senate then confirmed these appointments on March 3rd. Adams signed the official commissions but did not finish signing until late into the night on his last day in office, which led to this group of judges being called the midnight judges. Secretary of State John Marshall, who had just been named chief justice of the Supreme Court, affixed the great seal of the United States to the commissions, and that night his brother, James Marshall delivered some of the commissions to the new judges in Alexandria. However, none of the 23 justices in Washington county received their commissions before Adams left office at noon on March 4th. When Thomas Jefferson took office, he discovered the commissions, but only reappointed 11 of the 23. William Marbury was one of the Federalists that did not receive their commission. In December 1801, Marbury filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court to force Thomas Jefferson's new Secretary of State, James Madison, to deliver his commission so that he could serve his judgeship. Marbury and three other appointees petitioned for a writ of mandamus which would force the delivery of the commissions. On February 24, 1803, the Supreme Court ruled against Marbury on the grounds that the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional as it violated Article III, Section II of the Constitution. Specifically, the Supreme Court found that Madison failing to deliver the commission was illegal, but the Supreme Court could not issue the writ of mandamus since the Judiciary Act of 1789, which gave the Supreme Court the power to issue a writ of mandamus, was found unconstitutional because it attempted to expand the the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction and was therefore invalid. Therefore, this ruling established judicial review and the ability of the courts to declare a law unconstitutional. It also helped to refine the boundary between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. Recommended Resources for Further Research Resources available from the CSU Stanislaus Library:

• Clinton, R. L. (1989). Marbury v. Madison and judicial review. University Press of Kansas.
• Finkelman, P., & Lesh, B. A. (Eds.). (2008). Milestone documents in American history: Exploring the primary sources that shaped America. Schlager Group.
• George, R. P. (Ed.). (2000). Great cases in constitutional law. Princeton University Press.
• Greenhouse, l. (2012). The U.S. Supreme Court: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
• Hobson, C. F. (1996). The great chief justice: John Marshall and the rule of law. University Press of Kansas.
• Irons, P. H. (1999). A people’s history of the Supreme Court. Viking.
• Newmyer, R. K. (2001). John Marshall and the heroic age of the Supreme Court. Louisiana State University Press.
• Rosen, J. (2007). The Supreme Court: The personalities and rivalries that defined America (1st ed.). Times Books.

Links to Other Resources:

• Justia: Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803)
• Library of Congress: Marbury v. Madison: Primary Documents in American History
• Library of Congress: U.S. Reports: Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803).
• National Archives: Milestone Documents: Marbury v. Madison (1803)
• National Constitution Center: John Marshall: Patriot, Statesman, Chief Justice
• National Constitution Center: Marbury v. Madison and the Independent Supreme Court by Nicholas Mosvick
• Oyez: Marbury v. Madison

The Civil War The Civil War, also known as the War Between the States, lasted between April 12, 1861 and November 6, 1865. It was fought between the United States (also called the Union or the North) and the Confederacy (also called the South), which was formed by states that seceded from the Union. After decades of tension between the northern and southern states over states' rights, slavery, and westward expansion, the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 led to seven southern states seceding from the Union and forming the Confederate States of America on February 1, 1861. Four more southern states soon joined the Confederacy. The Confederacy was led by Jefferson Davis. The different economies in the North and South and the use of enslaved labor in the South were primary causes of the Civil War. The North had an economy based on industry and manufacturing with small farms, while the South had an economy based on plantation farming that relied on the labor of enslaved Black people to farm the predominately tobacco and cotton crops. The North also had a growing abolitionist movement and did not want slavery to extend to new western states and territories. This led southerners to believe that this would lead to the end of slavery which would hurt their economy. In March 1861, Abraham Lincoln became President and on April 12th Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. Major Robert Anderson, commander of Fort Sumter, surrendered after two days of bombardment which left the fort under the control of the Confederates. However, the Union overcame this loss. In 1861 and 1862 the Union made significant and permanent gains in the war's Western Theater by destroying the Confederate's river navy, western armies, and capturing New Orleans. On September 17, 1862, the Union won a strategic victory over the Confederacy at the Battle of Antietam near the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland. The Battle of Antietam is the bloodiest battle in American history with a combined causality rate of over 22,000. On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which declared all slaves in states in rebellion to be free. The 1863 the Union siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River and Confederate General Robert E. Lee's invasion north was ended by the Union at the Battle of Gettysburg. In 1864 General Ulysses S. Grant was in command of all Union armies and inflicted a naval blockade of Confederate ports. Atlanta, Georgia also fell to Union General William Tecumseh Sherman and was followed by his march to the sea where he inflicted a scorched earth policy destroying railroads, agricultural infrastructure, and manufacturing infrastructure throughout Georgia. The last battles of the Civil War occurred around the Siege of Petersburg as the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad supplied the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. On April 9, 1865 the Confederates abandoned Richmond and Lee surrendered to Grant following the Battle of the Appomattox Court House. President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated shortly after the surrender and died on April 15th. Andrew Johnson assumed the presidency after Lincoln's assassination. Therefore, the conclusion of the Civil War began shortly before Lincoln's death with the ceasefire agreement of the Army of Northern Virginia on April 9th at the Appomattox Court House and concluded with the agreement of the Shenandoah on November 6, 1865. The Civil War did not legally end until August 20, 1866 when President Andrew Johnson issued a proclamation officially ending the war. The period following the Civil War was called Reconstruction and lasted from 1865 to 1877. During the Reconstruction era, the United States dealt with rebuilding the Union and struggled with the political, economic, and social inequities that occurred because of slavery. Recommended Resources for Further Research Resources available from the CSU Stanislaus Library:

• Conlin, M. F. (2019). The constitutional origins of the American Civil War. Cambridge University Press.
• Foner, E. (2020). The second founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction remade the Constitution. W.W. Norton & Company.
• Holzer, H. (2012). Emancipating Lincoln: The Proclamation in text, context, and memory. Harvard University Press.
• Kendi, I. X., & Blair, K. N. (Eds.). (2021). Four hundred souls: A community history of African America, 1619-2019. One World.
• Levine, B. C. (2013). The fall of the House of Dixie: The Civil War and the social revolution that transformed the South (1st ed.). Random House.
• Longacre, E. G. (2007). General Ulysses S. Grant: The soldier and the man. Da Capo.
• McPherson, J. M. (2007). This mighty scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War. Oxford University Press.
• Marrs, C. (2020). Not even past: The stories we keep telling about the Civil War. Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Rosenberg, A. (2011). The Civil War. Scholastic Inc.
• Sherman, W. T. (1990). Memoirs of General W.T. Sherman. Library of America.
• Smith, C. (2021). How the word is passed: A reckoning with the history of slavery across America. Little, Brown and Company.
• Von Drehle, D. (2012). Rise to greatness: Abraham Lincoln and America’s most perilous year (1st ed.). Henry Holt and Co.
• Weppler, Mary. (2022, August 3). History: The American Civil War. CSU Stanislaus. Retrieved August 28, 2022 from https://library.csustan.edu/us_civilwar

Links to Other Resources:

• Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum: Papers of Abraham Lincoln
• American Battlefield Trust: Gettysburg
• Digital Public Library of America: The American Abolitionist Movement
• Digital Public Library of America: American Civil War
• Digital Public Library of America: Battle of Gettysburg
• Digital Public Library of America: The Freedmen's Bureau
• Digital Public Library of America: Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln
• Digital Public Library of America: Secession of the Southern States
• Digital Public Library of America: The Transatlantic Slave Trade
• Digital Public Library of America: Women in the Civil War
• Library of Congress: Abraham Lincoln: A Resource Guide
• Library of Congress: Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress
• Library of Congress: The African American Odyssey: A Quest for Full Citizenship
• Library of Congress: American Minority Groups in the United States Civil War: A Resource Guide
• Library of Congress: Andrew Johnson: A Resource Guide
• Library of Congress: Antietam: "The Most Terrible Battle of the Age"
• Library of Congress: Battle of Appomattox Court House: Topics in Chronicling America
• Library of Congress: Battle of Gettysburg: Topics in Chronicling America
• Library of Congress: Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877
• Library of Congress: Civil War Glass Negatives and Related Prints
• Library of Congress: Civil War in American: Exhibition
• Library of Congress: Civil War Maps (New-York Daily Tribune): Topics in Chronicling America
• Library of Congress: Civil War Men and Women: Glimpses of Their Lives Through Photography
• Library of Congress: Civil War Prints and Photographs Collection
• Library of Congress: Civil War Secessions: Topics in Chronicling America
• Library of Congress: Confederate States of America Records
• Library of Congress: Emancipation Proclamation: Primary Documents in American History
• Library of Congress: Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs
• Library of Congress: National Expansion and Reform, 1815-1880
• Library of Congress: Sherman's March to the Sea: Topics in Chronicling America
• Library of Congress: Slavery and Abolition: Topics in Chronicling America
• Library of Congress: Slavery in America: A Resource Guide
• Library of Congress: Ulysses S. Grant Papers
• National Archives: Civil War Photographs
• National Archives: Discovering the Civil War
• National Archives: The Emancipation Proclamation
• National Archives: Military Records: The Civil War

1870

15th Amendment

1919

18th Amendment

1992

24th Amendment

1868

14th Amendment

1913

16th and 17th Amendments

1920

19th Amendment

1971

26th Amendment

Timeline of the Consitution of the United States

1865

13th Amendment

1964

27th Amendment

Created by Lauren Hall

This image features a digital scan of the House Joint Resolution proposing the 13th amendment to the Constitution. The House Joint Resolution Proposing the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, January 31, 1865; Enrolled Acts and Resolutions of Congress, 1789-1999; General Records of the United States Government; Record Group 11; National Archives. Retrieved from https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/13th-amendment#transcript. Public Domain Image.

This image features a digital scan of the House Joint Resolution proposing the 14th amendment to the Constitution. The House Joint Resolution Proposing the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, June 16, 1866; Enrolled Acts and Resolutions of Congress, 1789-1999; General Records of the United States Government; Record Group 11; National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/14th-amendment. Public Domain Image.

This print published and printed by Thomas Kelly depicts a parade and illustrates the rights granted by the 15th amendment. Kelly, T. (ca. 1870) The Fifteenth amendment. , ca. 1870. N.Y.: Published & printed by Thomas Kelly, 17 Barclay St. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/93510386/. Public Domain Image.

This image is a digital scan of the Joint Resolution proposing the 16th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The 16th Amendment, March 15, 1913; Ratified Amendments, 1795-1992; General Records of the United States Government; Record Group 11; National Archives. Retrieved from https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/16th-amendment. Public Domain Image.

This image is a digital scan from a 1921 photograph. The photograph shows New York City Deputy Police Commissioner John A. Leach watching alcohol be poured into a sewer during prohibition. (1921) New York City Deputy Police Commissioner John A. Leach, right, watching agents pour liquor into sewer following a raid during the height of prohibition. New York, 1921. [?] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/99405169/. Public Domain Image.

This digital scan of an illustration shows a torch-bearing female labeled "Votes for Women," symbolizing the awakening of the nation's women to the desire for suffrage. She strides across the western states, where women already had the right to vote, toward the east where women are reaching out to her. Printed below the cartoon is a poem by Alice Duer Miller. Mayer, H. (1915) The awakening. United States, 1915. New York: Published by Puck Publishing Corporation, 295-309 Lafayette Street. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/98502844/. Public Domain Image.

This is a digital scan from a photograph taken during the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. The photograph shows a procession of African Americans carrying signs for equal rights, integrated schools, decent housing, and an end to bias. Leffler, W. K., photographer. (1963) Civil rights march on Washington, D.C. / WKL. Washington D.C, 1963. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2003654393/.

This image is a digital scan of the Joint Resolution proposing the 26th amendment of the U.S. Constitution which extended the right to vote to citizens 18 years of age or older. Joint Resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States extending the right to vote to citizens eighteen years of age or older;, Public Laws, 92nd Congress, 1st Session; General Records of the United States Government; Record Group 11; National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/todays-doc/?dod-date=323#. Public Domain Image.

The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime, throughout the United States. The Thirteenth Amendment was the first of three Reconstruction Amendments that were adopted after the Civil War. The Reconstruction Amendments are the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution. Under Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution, also known as the Three-Fifths Clause, only three-fifths of the enslaved population would count toward the total population of a state. This count would determine the number of seats in the House of Representatives, the number of electoral votes each state would receive, and how much each state would pay in taxes. The existence of the Three-fifths Clause combined with the uncertainty surrounding the status of enslaved people after the Civil War led to lawmakers proposing a Constitutional amendment that would abolish slavery nationally. James Mitchell Ashley, James F. Wilson, and John B. Henderson all submitted proposals for an amendment which were combined into one proposal. The amendment was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864 and by the House of Representatives on January 31, 1865. It was ratified by the required 27 states on December 6, 1865 (at this time there were 36 states). The amendment was proclaimed on December 18, 1865. Recommended Resources for Further Research Resources available from the CSU Stanislaus Library:

• Belz, H. (2000). A new birth of freedom: The Republican Party and freedmen’s rights, 1861 to 1866. Fordham University Press.
• Finkelman, P., & Lesh, B. A. (Eds.). (2008). Milestone documents in American history: Exploring the primary sources that shaped America. Schlager Group.
• Foner, E. (2020). The second founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction remade the Constitution. W.W. Norton & Company.
• Harris, W. C. (2004). Lincoln’s last months. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
• Levy, L. W., Karst, K. L., & Winkler, A. (Eds.). Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. Macmillan Reference USA.
• Richter, W. L. (2004). Historical dictionary of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Scarecrow Press.
• Vorenberg, M. (2001). Final freedom: The Civil War, the abolition of slavery, and the Thirteenth Amendment. Cambridge University Press.

Links to Other Resources:

• Constitution Annotated: Thirteenth Amendment
• Library of Congress: Abraham Lincoln papers: Series 3. General Correspondence. 1837-1897: Congress, Wednesday, February 01, 1865 (Joint Resolution Submitting 13th Amendment to the States; signed by Abraham Lincoln and Congress)
• Library of Congress: The African American Odyssey: A Quest for Full Citizenship
• Library of Congress: Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877
• Library of Congress: Reconstruction and Rights
• Library of Congress: 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Primary Documents in American History
• National Archives: America's Historical Documents: 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery
• National Archives: Document for December 18th: Proclamation of the Secretary of State announcing the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, December 18, 1865
• National Archives: 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery (1865)
• National Constitution Center: The Drafting Table: 13th Amendment
• National Constitution Center: The 13th Amendment
• National Constitution Center: The 13th Amendment (An Online Exhibit)

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is one of the Reconstruction Amendments and was adopted on July 9, 1868. This amendment addresses citizenship rights and equal protection under the law. Since this amendment was a response to issues concerning formerly enslaved people, the amendment was heavily challenged, particularly by the southern states which had to ratify the amendment in order to regain representation in Congress. The first section of the amendment includes the Citizenship Clause, the Due Process Clause, the Privileges or Immunities Clause, and the Equal Protection Clause. The Citizenship Clause states that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. This statement on citizenship overrode the Dred Scott decision of the Supreme Court which had ruled that African Americans could not be citizens of the United States. The Due Process Clause is found in both the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment. The Due Process Clause prohibits the federal and state governments from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. The Privileges or Immunities Clause prohibits states from making or enforcing any law which abridges the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States. The Equal Protection Clause prohibits states' from denying any person within its jurisdiction equal protection of the laws which means that all must be treated equally by the law. The second section of the Fourteenth Amendment outlines the apportionment of representatives. The third section outlines disqualification from holding office and states that individuals who engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States or who aided those who did are barred from holding office as a Senator, Representative, President, or Vice President, or holding any civil or military office under the United States or under any state. The third section of the amendment has recently been invoked against those who participated in the United States Capitol Attack on January 6, 2021. The fourth section of the amendment contains the Public Debt Clause which established the legitimacy of public debt appropriated by Congress and also outlined that the United States would not pay for any debt caused by the loss of an enslaved individual or any debts incurred by the Confederacy. The fifth section gives Congress the power to enforce this amendment through legislation. The Fourteenth Amendment is a landmark amendment that has become one of the most litigated amendments. It has formed the basis of Supreme Court decisions in landmark cases such as Brown v. Board of Education (1954), Loving v. Virginia (1967), and Obergefell v. Hodges (2015). Recommended Resources for Further Research Resources available from the CSU Stanislaus Library:

• Epps, G. (2006). Democracy reborn: The Fourteenth Amendment and the fight for equal rights in post-Civil War America (1st ed.). H. Holt.
• Epps, G. (2013). American epic: Reading the US Constitution. Oxford University Press.
• Finkelman, P., & Lesh, B. A. (Eds.). (2008). Milestone documents in American history: Exploring the primary sources that shaped America. Schlager Group.
• Foner, E. (2020). The second founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction remade the Constitution. W.W. Norton & Company.
• Howard, J. R. (1999). The shifting wind: The Supreme Court and civil rights from Reconstruction to Brown. State University of New York Press.
• Kendi, I. X., & Blair, K. N. (Eds.). (2021). Four hundred souls: A community history of African America, 1619-2019. One World.
• Myers, J. L. (2009). Henry Wilson and the era of Reconstruction. University Press of America.
• Richter, W. L. (2004). Historical dictionary of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Scarecrow Press.
• Tomkovicz, J. J. (2011). Constitutional exclusion: The rules, rights, and remedies that strike the balance between freedom and order. Oxford University Press.
• Wallenstein, P. (2002). Tell the court I love my wife: Race, marriage, and law: An American history (1st ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.

Links to Other Resources:

• Constitution Annotated: Fourteenth Amendment
• Library of Congress: The African American Odyssey: A Quest for Full Citizenship
• Library of Congress: Brown v. Board of Education: A Resource Guide
• Library of Congress: Brown v. Board at Fifty: “With an Even Hand”
• Library of Congress: 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Primary Documents in American History
• Library of Congress: Love Wins: Obergefell v. Hodges. 2016. Video.
• National Archives: Brown v. Board of Education
• National Archives: 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Civil Rights (1868)
• National Archives: The Fight for the Right to Marry: The Loving v. Virginia Case by Jessie Kratz
• National Constitution Center: The Drafting Table: The Fourteenth Amendment
• National Constitution Center: The 14th Amendment
• Oyez: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
• Oyez: Loving v. Virginia
• Oyez: Obergefell v. Hodges

The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Fifteenth Amendment prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on a person's race, color, or previous condition of servitude. The Fifteenth Amendment is the last of the Reconstruction Amendments and was ratified on February 3, 1870. However, this amendment did not stop states in the former Confederacy from enacting Jim Crow laws, poll taxes, and literacy tests to disenfranchise Black voters. This eventually led to the Twenty-fourth Amendment in 1964 which forbade the requirement for poll taxes in federal elections and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Recommended Resources for Further Research Resources available from the CSU Stanislaus Library:

• Finkelman, P., & Lesh, B. A. (Eds.). (2008). Milestone documents in American history: Exploring the primary sources that shaped America. Schlager Group.
• Foner, E. (2020). The second founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction remade the Constitution. W.W. Norton & Company.
• Levy, L. W., Karst, K. L., & Winkler, A. (Eds.). Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. Macmillan Reference USA.
• Richter, W. L. (2004). Historical dictionary of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Scarecrow Press.
• Tushnet, M., Graber, M. A., & Levinson, S. (Eds.). (2016). The Oxford handbook of the U.S. Constitution. Oxford University Press.

Links to Other Resources:

• Constitution Annotated: 15th Amendment
• Digital Public Library of America: The 15th Amendment
• Library of Congress: Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877
• Library of Congress: 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Primary Documents in American History
• Library of Congress: Reconstruction and Rights
• Library of Congress: The African American Odyssey: A Quest for Full Citizenship
• National Archives: African American Heritage: Black Americans and the Vote
• National Archives: African American Heritage: Laws and Court Cases
• National Archives: 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Voting Rights (1870)
• National Archives: Testing the 15th Amendment: Milton Claiborne Nicholas and the Legacy of the First Black Voters by Heather Glasby
• National Archives: Voting Rights Act (1965)
• National Constitution Center: The Drafting Table: 15th Amendment
• National Constitution Center: The 15th Amendment

The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Amendments to the United States Constitution The Sixteenth Amendment gives Congress the power to levy an income tax without apportionment among the states on the basis of population. In 1909, the amendment was passed by Congress in response to the Supreme Court case Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. (1895) which struck down the income tax imposed by the Wilson–Gorman Tariff Act for being a direct tax. The Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act had lowered tariff rates and introduced taxes on income, corporate profits, gifts, and inheritances. The Supreme Court ruled that the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act was unconstitutional because the direct tax on income was not apportioned among the states according to representation. In 1909, Congress proposed the Sixteenth Amendment during discussions regarding the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act. The amendment was ratified on February 3, 1913. Following the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment, Congress imposed a federal income tax with the Revenue Act of 1913. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a direct income tax in Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co. (1916). The federal government has continued to levy an income tax since 1913. The Seventeenth Amendment established the direct election of Senators. The amendment supersedes Article I, Section 3, Clauses 1 and 2 of the Constitution which called for Senators to be elected by state legislators. The movement to change how Senators were elected was due in part to the corruption and deadlock in some state legislatures in selecting Senators. The Seventeenth Amendment was ratified on April 8, 1913. Recommended Resources for Further Research Resources available from the CSU Stanislaus Library:Sixteenth Amendment

• Finkelman, P., & Lesh, B. A. (Eds.). (2008). Milestone documents in American history: Exploring the primary sources that shaped America. Schlager Group.
• Levy, L. W., Karst, K. L., & Winkler, A. (Eds.). Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. Macmillan Reference USA.
• Tushnet, M., Graber, M. A., & Levinson, S. (Eds.). (2016). The Oxford handbook of the U.S. Constitution. Oxford University Press.

Seventeenth Amendment

• Finkelman, P., & Lesh, B. A. (Eds.). (2008). Milestone documents in American history: Exploring the primary sources that shaped America. Schlager Group.
• Levy, L. W., Karst, K. L., & Winkler, A. (Eds.). Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. Macmillan Reference USA.
• Schiller, W. J., & Stewart, C. H. (2015). Electing the senate: Indirect democracy before the seventeenth amendment. Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400852680
• Tushnet, M., Graber, M. A., & Levinson, S. (Eds.). (2016). The Oxford handbook of the U.S. Constitution. Oxford University Press.
• Zelizer, J. E. (Ed.). (2004). The American Congress: The building of democracy. Houghton Mifflin.

Links to Other Resources:Sixteenth Amendment

• Constitution Annotated: 16th Amendment
• Library of Congress: Progressive Era to New Era, 1900-1929
• Library of Congress: 16th Amendment: Topics in Chronicling America
• National Archives: 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Federal Income Tax (1913)
• National Constitution Center: 16th Amendment

Seventeenth Amendment

• Constitution Annotated: 17th Amendment
• Library of Congress: Resolution for the Direct Election of Senators
• Library of Congress: Progressive Era to New Era, 1900-1929
• National Archives: 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913)
• National Constitution Center: 17th Amendment
• United States Senate: Landmark Legislation: The Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution

The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Eighteenth Amendment prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol. It was proposed by Congress on December 18, 1917 and was ratified on January 16, 1919. Following the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment, Congress passed the Volstead Act, formally known as the National Prohibition Act, which allowed Congress to enforce the Eighteenth Amendment. It is informally named after Andrew Volstead, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who strongly supported the legislation. The push for prohibition grew out of the temperance movement which had grown popular in the United States. The temperance movement wanted to curb the consumption of alcohol because it was believed that this would be beneficial to society. Prohibition began on January 17, 1920, a year after the Eighteenth Amendment was ratified. Many have argued that prohibition led to the growth of organized crime. Bootlegging, or alcohol smuggling, became popular during this time. Speakeasies, or illegal bars that sold alcohol, also became popular during this time. Prohibition was eventually repealed with the ratification of the Twenty-First Amendment on December 5, 1933 which directly repealed the Eighteenth Amendment. The Eighteenth Amendment is the only amendment to ever be repealed. Recommended Resources for Further Research Resources available from the CSU Stanislaus Library:

• Andersen, L. M. F. (2013). The politics of prohibition: American governance and the Prohibition Party, 1869-1933. Cambridge University Press.
• Clark, N. H. (1976). Deliver us from evil: An interpretation of American prohibition (1st ed.). Norton.
• Levy, L. W., Karst, K. L., & Winkler, A. (Eds.). Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. Macmillan Reference USA.
• Smith, A. F. (2013). Drinking history: Fifteen turning points in the making of American beverages. Columbia University Press.

Links to Other Resources:

• Constitution Annotated: Eighteenth Amendment
• Constitution Annotated: Twenty-First Amendment
• Digital Public Library of America: Indomitable Spirits: Prohibition in the United States
• Digital Public Library of America: Women and the Temperance Movement
• Library of Congress: Alcoholic Beverage Industry: Temperance Movement & Prohibition
• Library of Congress: 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Primary Documents in American History
• Library of Congress: Prohibition: A Case Study of Progressive Reform
• Library of Congress: Songs of the Temperance Movement and Prohibition
• National Archives: Joint Resolution Proposing the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
• National Archives: Joint Resolution Proposing the Twenty-First Amendment to the United States Constitution
• National Archives: The Volstead Act
• National Constitution Center: 18th Amendment: Prohibition of Liquor
• National Constitution Center: The Constitutional Legacy of Prohibition

The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the federal government and the states from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on account of sex. This amendment gave women the right to vote as they had previously been denied this right on the basis of sex. By the mid-1800s, organizations supporting women's rights became more prominent. In 1948, the Seneca Falls convention adopted the Declaration of Sentiments which called for women to secure the right to vote. Pro-suffrage organizations used a variety of arguments relying on existing amendments to gain women the right to vote, but these were struck down by the Supreme Court. This led to activists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony to advocate for a new constitutional amendment that guaranteed women the same voting rights as men. The women's suffrage movement also grew as states in the West, such as California, granted women the right to vote. The National Woman's Party staged marches, demonstrations, and hunger strikes in their fight to grant women the right to vote. The United States entering World War I also helped shift public perception in support of women's suffrage. The National American Woman Suffrage Association, led by Carrie Chapman Catt, supported the war effort and argued that women should be given the right to vote for their wartime service. The movement for women's suffrage led to President Wilson announcing his support for a suffrage amendment in 1918. The 19th Amendment passed the House of Representatives on May 21, 1919, the Senate on June 4, 1919, and was ratified on August 18, 1920. The amendment was certified and officially adopted on August 26, 1920. Recommended Resources for Further Research Resources available from the CSU Stanislaus Library:

• Blackwell, A. S. (2001). Lucy Stone: Pioneer of woman’s rights. University Press of Virginia.
• Finkelman, P., & Lesh, B. A. (Eds.). (2008). Milestone documents in American history: Exploring the primary sources that shaped America. Schlager Group.
• Hannam, J., Auchterlonie, M., & Holden, K. (2000). International encyclopedia of women’s suffrage. ABC-CLIO.
• Keyssar, A. (2000). The right to vote: The contested history of democracy in the United States. Basic Books.
• Kitch, C., Kroeger, B., & Steiner, L. (Eds.). (2020). Front pages, front lines: Media and the fight for women’s suffrage. University of Illinois Press.
• Matthews, J. V. (2003). The rise of the new woman: The women’s movement in America, 1875-1930. Ivan R. Dee.
• Schultz, J. D., & Van Assendelft, L. A. (Eds.). (1999). Encyclopedia of women in American politics. Oryx Press.
• Somervill, B. A. (2003). Votes for women!: The story of Carrie Chapman Catt (1st ed.). Morgan Reynolds Pub.
• Stansell, C. (2010). The feminist promise: 1792 to the present (1st ed.). Modern Library.
• Stanton, E. C., & Anthony, S. B. (with DuBois, E. C.). (1981). Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, correspondence, writings, speeches (E. C. DuBois, Ed.). Schocken Books.

Links to Other Resources:

• Constitution Annotated: Nineteenth Amendment
• Digital Public Library of America: Women’s Suffrage: Campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment
• Digital Public Library of America: The New Woman
• Library of Congress: Golden Flyer Suffragettes: Topics in Chronicling America
• Library of Congress: National American Woman Suffrage Association Collection
• Library of Congress: 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Primary Documents in American History
• Library of Congress: Seneca Falls and Building a Movement, 1776-1890
• Library of Congress: Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote
• Library of Congress: Women of Protest: Photographs from the Records of the National Woman's Party
• Library of Congress: Women's Suffrage
• Library of Congress: Women's Suffrage in Sheet Music
• Library of Congress: Women's Suffrage in the Progressive Era
• National Constitution Center: The Awakening
• National Constitution Center: The Debates
• National Constitution Center: How Women Won the Vote
• National Constitution Center: The Drafting Table: The 19th Amendment
• National Constitution Center: The 19th Amendment: Women Fight for Rights (1848-1877)
• National Constitution Center: The 19th Amendment: Suffragists Change Tactics (1878-1916)
• National Constitution Center: Women and the Constitution
• National Women's History Museum: Mapping Suffrage: The Push for the 19th Amendment in Washington, DC
• National Women's History Museum: Parading for Progress
• National Women's History Museum: Representation with a Hyphen: Latinas in the Fight for Women's Suffrage
• National Women's History Museum: Representación con Guión: Latinas en la Lucha por el Sufragio Femenino
• National Women's History Museum: Timeline: Woman Suffrage
• National World War I Museum and Memorial: Women in World War I
• Santa Clara University Library: Women's Suffrage Centennial Celebration: Women's Vote in California

The Twenty-Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Twenty-Fourth Amendment prohibits Congress and the states from charging a poll tax or other type of tax in order to vote and from denying a person the right to vote for not paying a poll tax. The Twenty-Fourth Amendment was ratified on January 23, 1964. This amendment was proposed and ratified in response to poll taxes that were enacted by southern states that had been members of the former Confederacy. The poll taxes led to the disenfranchisement of African Americans and poor whites and prohibited many from voting. In 1966, the Supreme Court ruled in Harper v. Virginia Board Elections that poll taxes for any level of election is unconstitutional. The same year that the 24th Amendment was ratified, Congress also passed Public Law 88-352 (78 Stat. 241), better known as The Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as, race in hiring, promoting, and firing. The Act prohibited discrimination in public accommodations and federally funded programs. The year after the Twenty-Fourth Amendment was ratified, Congress also passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which prohibits racial discrimination in voting. This landmark legislation was passed in order to enforce the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments of the Constitution. It prohibits state and local governments from enacting any rule that results in the denial or abridgment of the right of a citizen to vote on the basis of race or color. The Twenty-Fourth Amendment, The Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were made possible because of the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement was a political and social movement in the 1950s and 1960s to end Jim Crow laws, racial segregation, discrimination, and restrictions on voting for Black Americans throughout the United States. Support for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 particularly grew in response to the violence that voting rights activists and Civil Rights leaders faced on their march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama on March 7, 1965. In response to the violence against the peaceful marchers, President Johnson called for voting rights legislation. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was then passed by the Senate on May 26, 1965, the House of Representatives on July 9, 1965, and was signed by President Johnson on August 6, 1965 with Martin Luther King, Jr. present at the ceremony. Recommended Resources for Further Research Resources available from the CSU Stanislaus Library:

• Berman, A. (2015). Give us the ballot: The modern struggle for voting rights in America (1st ed.). Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
• Bothmer, B. (2010). Framing the sixties: The use and abuse of a decade from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush. University of Massachusetts Press.
• Chalmers, D. C. (2013). And the crooked places made straight: The struggle for social change in the 1960s (2nd ed.). The Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Gitin, M., & Baldwin, L. V. (2014). This bright light of ours: Stories from the voting rights fight. The University of Alabama Press.
• Hinton, E. (2021). America on fire: The untold history of police violence and Black rebellion since the 1960s (1st ed.). Liveright Publishing Corporation.
• Kasher, S. (1996). The civil rights movement: A photographic history, 1954-68 (1st ed.). Abbeville Press.
• Kendi, I. X., & Blain, K. N. (Eds.). (2021). Four hundred souls: A community history of African America, 1619-2019. One World.
• Levy, L. W., Karst, K. L., & Winkler, A. (Eds.). Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. Macmillan Reference USA.
• Long, M. G. (Ed.). (2011). Marshalling justice: The early civil rights letters of Thurgood Marshall (1st ed.). Amistad.
• McCool, D. (Ed.). (2012). The most fundamental right: Contrasting perspectives on the Voting Rights Act. Indiana University Press.
• Mays, K. T. (2021). An Afro-Indigenous history of the United States. Beacon Press.
• Ogbar, J. O. G. (2003). The civil rights movement. Houghton Mifflin.
• Rieder, J. (2013). Gospel of freedom: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s letter from Birmingham Jail and the struggle that changed a nation. Bloomsbury Press.
• Romano, R. C., & Raiford, L. (Eds.). (2006). The Civil Rights movement in American memory. University of Georgia Press.
• Thornton, J. M. (2002). Dividing lines : Municipal politics and the struggle for civil rights in Montgomery, Birmingham, and Selma. University of Alabama Press.
• Walker, D. F., & Anderson, M. K. (2021). The Black Panther Party: A graphic novel history (1st ed.). Ten Speed Press.

Links to Other Resources:

• Civil Rights Movement Archive
• Constitution Annotated: Twenty-Fourth Amendment
• Digital Public Library of America: Fannie Lou Hamer and the Civil Rights Movement in Rural Mississippi
• Digital Public Library of America: Lyndon Johnson's Great Society
• Digital Public Library of America: The Black Power Movement
• Digital Public Library of America: The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
• Digital Public Library of America: The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
• Digital Public Library of America: Voting Rights Act of 1965
• Library of Congress: African American Activists of the 20th Century: Selected Pictures
• Library of Congress: African American History Online: A Resource Guide
• Library of Congress: The African American Odyssey: A Quest for Full Citizenship
• Library of Congress: The American Folklife Center: Civil Rights History Project-- National Survey of Collections
• Library of Congress: The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom
• Library of Congress: The Civil Rights Era in the U.S. News & World Report Photographs Collection
• Library of Congress: Civil Rights History Project
• Library of Congress: Civil Rights Resource Guide
• Library of Congress: The Post War United States, 1945-1968
• Library of Congress: Rosa Parks: A Resource Guide
• Library of Congress: Today in History - March 7: First March From Selma
• Library of Congress: Voices of Civil Rights
• Library of Congress: Voting Rights for African Americans
• Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers
• National Archives: Civil Rights
• National Archives: Voting Rights Act of 1965
• National Archives Foundation: Black History
• National Constitution Center: 24th Amendment: Abolition of Poll Tax
• National Women's History Museum: Standing Up for Change
• National Women's History Museum: Timeline: Civil Rights Movement

The Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Twenty-Sixth Amendment lowered the legal voting age from twenty-one to eighteen and prohibits the federal government and states from using age as a reason for denying citizens the right to vote as long as they are at least eighteen years old. The movement to lower the voting age to eighteen grew during the late 1960s in response to young men being drafted into the Vietnam War. Supporters of lowering the voting age to eighteen expressed the sentiment that if young men are old enough to be conscripted and fight, then they are old enough to vote. The slogan used by activists was "Old Enough to Fight, Old Enough to Vote." Congress initially included a provision lowering the voting age to eighteen in the 1970 extension of the Voting Rights Act. However, in the 1970 case, Oregon V. Michell, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress could not lower the voting age for state and local elections. Since this would have led to confusion and extra costs by requiring separate voter rolls for federal and state and local elections, Congress moved quickly to propose a Constitutional amendment to lower the voting age. Congress passed the Twenty-Sixth Amendment on March 23, 1971 and it was ratified by three-fourths of the states by July 1, 1971. Recommended Resources for Further Research Resources available from the CSU Stanislaus Library:

• Appy, C. (2015). American reckoning : the Vietnam War and our national identity. Viking.
• The Bill of rights and beyond, 1791-1991. (1991). Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution.
• Epps, G. (2013). American epic: Reading the US Constitution. Oxford University Press.
• Levy, L. W., Karst, K. L., & Winkler, A. (Eds.). Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. Macmillan Reference USA.
• Lewis, P. (2013). Hardhats, hippies, and hawks:  The Vietnam antiwar movement as myth and memory. ILR Press.
• Muir, M. (2017). End of the saga: The maritime evacuation of South Vietnam and Cambodia. Department of the Navy, Naval History & Heritage Command, in partnership with the Naval Historical Foundation.
• Nguyen, V. T. (2016). Nothing ever dies: Vietnam and the memory of war. Harvard University Press.
• Schmitz, D. F. (2014). Richard Nixon and the Vietnam War: The end of the American century. Rowman & Littlefield.
• Tucker, S. (Ed.). (1998). Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War : a political, social, and military history. ABC-CLIO.

Links to Other Resources:

• Constitution Annotated: Twenty-Sixth Amendment
• Library of Congress: Vietnam War, Looking Back Part 1: Stories from the Veteran's History Project
• Library of Congress: Veteran's History Project
• Library of Congress: Veteran's History Project: Exploring the Collections
• National Archives: Document for March 23rd: 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
• National Archives: Remembering Vietnam: Online Exhibit
• National Archives: U.S. Military Casualties, Missing in Action, and Prisoners of War from the Era of the Vietnam War
• National Archives: Vietnam War
• National Constitution Center: 26th Amendment
• National Museum of American History (Smithsonian): The Twenty-Sixth Amendment, 1971
• The National World War II Museum: "Old Enough to Fight, Old Enough to Vote”: The WWII Roots of the 26th Amendment: The 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18, has roots in WWII history by Gemma R. Birnbaum
• Oyez: Oregon v. Mitchell
• Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum: The 26th Amendment
• Smithsonian Magazine: How Young Activists Got 18-Year-Olds the Right to Vote in Record Time by Manisha Claire
• United States House of Representatives: Letter on the 26th Amendment

The Twenty-Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution The Twenty-Seventh Amendment, also known as the Congressional Compensation Act of 1789, prohibits any law that changes the compensation or salary of members of Congress from taking effect until after the next election of the House of Representatives has occurred. While this is the most recently adopted amendment to the United States Constitution, it was actually the second article of amendment proposed by James Madison in 1789. The 1st Congress submitted the amendment to the states for ratification on September 25, 1789, along with 11 other proposed amendments. The last ten Articles were ratified in 1791 and became the Bill of Rights, but the first two were not ratified by enough states to become amendments to the Constitution. The second article of amendment was mostly forgotten until 1982. In 1982, Gregory Watson, a nineteen-year-old college student at the University of Texas at Austin, wrote a paper for a class that argued the amendment could still be ratified. Gregory launched a campaign to complete the amendment's ratification. The amendment was eventually ratified on May 7, 1992. The amendment was certified by Archivist Don Wilson, the only national archivist to certify a Constitutional amendment. The certification of the Twenty-Seventh Amendment completed the longest ratification period in United States history at over two hundred and two years. Recommended Resources for Further Research Resources available from the CSU Stanislaus Library:

• Endersby, J. W., & Overby, L. M. (2018). Congress and the Constitution: The Twenty-seventh Amendment and the Past and Future of Constitutional Alteration. Congress & the Presidency, 45(2), 166–184. https://doi.org/10.1080/07343469.2018.1444682
• Epps, G. (2013). American epic: Reading the US Constitution. Oxford University Press.
• Hennessey, J. (2008). The United States Constitution: A graphic adaptation (A. McConnell, Illus.). Hill and Wang.
• Levy, L. W., Karst, K. L., & Winkler, A. (Eds.). Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. Macmillan Reference USA.

Links to Other Resources:

• Constitution Annotated: Twenty-Seventh Amendment
• National Archives: A Record Setting Amendment
• National Archives: Prologue Magazine: The National Archives’ Role in Amending the Constitution by Jessie Kratz
• National Constitution Center: Pieces of History: 27th Amendment

This image is a digital scan of a photograph depicting the Archivist of the United States, Don Wilson, signing certification of the 27th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Archivist of the United States Don Wilson, Signing Certification of the 27th Amendment to the Constitution, May 18, 1992. (George Bush Presidential Library, Don Wilson Collection, National Archives). Retrieved from https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2016/04/11/a-record-setting-amendment/