14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment to the Constitution was written in 1865 and proposed to the states for ratification. This amendment guarantees rights of citizenship, due process,...
A Founding Father in uniform
This 1923 drawing by artist D. Falls depicts Captain Alexander Hamilton, of the Provincial Company, New York Artillery, in 1776. Born in 1755 in the British West...
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation, often called this Nation's first constitution, defined the former colonies as a confederation of 13 sovereign states bound loosely in a...
Bill of Rights
The Constitution was ratified without an explicit guarantee of individual rights. During the Constitution’s ratification debates, the absence of a bill of rights...
Constitution by wire
In the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln eagerly sought the statehood of the pro-Unionist and largely Republican Nevada Territory. Certified copies of...
Constitution of the State of Texas
This is the first constitution of the state of Texas. Ratified by Texas citizens and the U.S. Congress in 1845, it was modified in 1861 to transfer allegiance to the...
Constitution of the United States
The Federal Convention convened in the State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia on May 14, 1787, to revise the Articles of Confederation. Because the...