The U.S. Constitution

Answers From the FAQ, Page 2 This page is one of the answer pages for the USConstitution.net’s Constitutional FAQ. There have been so many questions and answers over the years, that it was best to split them among several files. If you’re looking for the question list, you can find it in three...

Answers From the FAQ, Page 3 This page is one of the answer pages for the USConstitution.net’s Constitutional FAQ. There have been so many questions and answers over the years, that it was best to split them among several files. If you’re looking for the question list, you can find it in three...

Answers From the FAQ, Page 4 This page is one of the answer pages for the USConstitution.net’s Constitutional FAQ. There have been so many questions and answers over the years, that it was best to split them among several files. If you’re looking for the question list, you can find it in three...

Answers From the FAQ, Page 5 This page is one of the answer pages for the USConstitution.net’s Constitutional FAQ. There have been so many questions and answers over the years, that it was best to split them among several files. If you’re looking for the question list, you can find it in three...

Answers From the FAQ, Page 6 This page is one of the answer pages for the USConstitution.net’s Constitutional FAQ. There have been so many questions and answers over the years, that it was best to split them among several files. If you’re looking for the question list, you can find it in three...

Answers From the FAQ, Page 7 This page is one of the answer pages for the USConstitution.net’s Constitutional FAQ. There have been so many questions and answers over the years, that it was best to split them among several files. If you’re looking for the question list, you can find it in three...

Answers From the FAQ, Page 8 This page is one of the answer pages for the USConstitution.net’s Constitutional FAQ. There have been so many questions and answers over the years, that it was best to split them among several files. If you’re looking for the question list, you can find it in three...

Comparing the Articles and the Constitution The United States has operated under two constitutions. The first, The Articles of Confederation , was in effect from March 1, 1781, when Maryland ratified it. The second, The Constitution , replaced the Articles when it was ratified by New Hampshire on...

Notes From the Constitutional Convention The Avalon Project , supported and hosted by Yale Law School, is a rich source for electronic copies of historical documents. Avalon includes electronic versions of all of Madison’s published notes from the Constitutional Convention . Rather than reinvent...

Copying USConstitution.net Files Because many of the files at this site are HTML copies of important documents in United States history, direct copying of some of the files to other Web sites is permitted. There are a few steps that Webmasters must take before copying any of the files, however....

Current News This page will attempt to distill all current news and issues about the Constitution into a quick, easy-to-read format. Note that because the Court and the Congress meet in cycles, there will be periods of activity and inactivity on this page. If you are aware of any important news...

The U.S. Constitution FAQ Advertisement The U.S. Constitution On-Line has been online in one form or another since 1995. In that time, I have have had a lot of questions asked of me about the Constitution. This page, and the ones it links to, are a compilation of the best of those questions. This...

Answers From the FAQ, Page 1 This page is one of the answer pages for the USConstitution.net’s Constitutional FAQ. There have been so many questions and answers over the years, that it was best to split them among several files. If you’re looking for the question list, you can find it in three...

USConstitution.net Message Boards Advertisement Since 1997, the USConstitution.net site has had forums which allow users to talk to the Webmaster and to each other. Most messages posted to the forums still exist on the site, allowing users to review past opinions and allowing searches to access...

Committees at the Constitutional Convention Advertisement Several notable committees met during the creation of the Constitution. These committees are referred to in the Convention Topic Page and the Convention Timeline . This page used James Madison’s notes from the convention as source material...

Notes on the Amendments Advertisement Each Amendment to the Constitution came about for a reason — to overrule a Supreme Court decision, to force a societal change, or to revise the details of the Constitution. This page will give an overview of how each Amendment came to be. The process for...

Some Proposed Amendments The Constitution is a living and evolving document. One of the ways that the Constitution is changed is through the amendment process . It can be an arduous process, requiring agreement by many different segments of society and the government, and it does not always work...

Ratification of Constitutional Amendments Article 5 of the Constitution provides for the amendment of the Constitution by various means (see The Amendments Page for details). However an amendment is proposed, it does not become part of the Constitution unless it is ratified by three-quarters of the...

Common Sense Thomas Paine was born in Thetford, England, on January 29, 1737. He was raised by a Quaker father and an Anglican mother. He apprenticed as a corset maker, a profession that he drifted in and out of for many years. In 1764, he studied for and was admitted as an excise officer, though...

The United States Constitution

The United States Constitution Today’s special event: March 16, 1751, is President James Madison ‘s birthday. The Constitution is presented in several ways on this site. This page presents the Constitution on one large HTML-enhanced page. Other pages present the Constitution as a series of...