Scope and Content Note
The United States Constitution Collection spans the years 1773-1944, with the bulk of the items concentrated in 1787-1919. The collection consists chiefly of photocopies and facsimiles of originals in various repositories, including the Library of Congress, and contains reports, notes, journals, letters, memoranda, and printed items documenting the drafting of the American Constitution, the Constitutional Convention (1787), and proposals relating to the Bill of Rights and subsequent amendments to the Constitution. Included are John James Beckley's manuscript copy of the Bill of Rights signed by Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg and John Adams and material by Abraham Baldwin, David Brearley, Nicholas Gilman, Jared Ingersoll, Rufus King, James Madison, Edmund Pendleton, and George Washington.