Formation Documents (Available at the National Archives)

• The Declaration of Independence (1776)

• The Articles of Confederation (1777)

• The U.S. Constitution (1787)

• The Bill of Rights (1791)

• The Federalist Papers (1788)

Other Sources:

• Founders Online: A searchable database of over 185,000 records from Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, and Franklin.

• Library of Congress - American Memory: Offers digitized versions of original manuscripts, maps, and broadsides from the 1700s.

• 1776 by David McCullough

• Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow 

• John Adams by David McCullough

• The Convention: Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution by Richard Beeman

• The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution by David O. Stewart – Narrative of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia