[1787] - American Constitution drafted and signed

The United States Constitution was drafted and signed on 17 September 1787 by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and ratified on 21 June 1788. It is the oldest written constitution in the world. The original document is held at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC.

Useful Links and Further Reading

• Library of Congress, ‘Primary Documents in American History: United States Constitution’, http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Constitution.html
• www.archives.gov, ‘The Charters of Freedom’, http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/charters.html
• www.ourdocuments.gov, ‘Constitution of the United States (1787)’, http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=9
• Richard Fallon, The Dynamic Constitution: An Introduction to American Constitutional Law (Cambridge, 2004)
• Akhil Amar Reed, America’s Constitution: A Biography (New York, NY, 2005)