September 17 is Constitution Day, celebrating the day in 1787 when members of the Constitutional Convention signed the final draft of the U.S. Constitution. Teaching with the Library of Congress normally marks this day by discussing a specific aspect of constitutional history or providing information on resources relating to the Constitution. In today’s blog post, we want to acknowledge changes to an important resource that can be used to study the history of the U.S. Congress, A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation.
A Century of Lawmaking was one of the first Library of Congress collections to be made available online, on what was then called American Memory. It provided access to historical materials that documented the daily activities of Congress covering the years prior to the American Revolution up to the late 1800’s. This website was very popular with historians, lawyers, and others interested in studying the workings of Congress. Later the records of the Congress of the Confederacy and the Native American land cessions were added, as well as features on the Electoral College, the impeachment of Andrew Johnson and select other topics.
But the Library is now transferring these materials to an updated display. The first part of the move has been completed and bills and resolutions documenting congressional activities covering the years 1799 to 1873 have been moved to Congress.gov. This blog post offers more information. Over time, additional material from a Century of Lawmaking will move either to Congress.gov or the Law Library of Congress website. You can keep on the latest changes through the @TeachingLC, @LawLibCongress, and @Congressdotgov Twitter feeds.
To learn more about the Constitution, explore resources on Congress.gov about the founding documents of the United States, including the Constitution Annotated, or the exhibition Creating the United States.
How will you acknowledge this important day in the history of the U.S. with your students?