Happy Constitution Day!

We The People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this, Constitution for the United States of America.

Celebrate Constitution Day today, September 17! You can read the Constitution online at http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html, or stop by Hackley Public Library today and pick up your own copy. They are free, first come-first served, while supplies last.

The National Archives site (http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html) recounts how the Constitution was created and ratified.

Interactive Constitution(http://www.constitutioncenter.org/constitution/) lets you search the Constitution.

Centuries of Citizenship: A Constitutional Timeline(http://www.constitutioncenter.org/timeline/) is an interactive timeline of events

The Federalist Papers(http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fedpapers.html) offers the 85 essays urging New Yorkers to ratify the proposed Constitution.

Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention Broadsides (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/bdsds/bdsdhome.html) provides 274 documents related to Congress (1774 to 1788) and the drafting and ratification of the Constitution.

You can also read up on some of the signers of the Constitution:

James Madison

George Washington By Burns, James MacGregor Author Dunn, Susan Editor Schlesinger, Arthur Meier, Jr. 2004-01 - MacMillan Audio 9781559279932 Check Our Catalog A major biography of George Washington by two esteemed scholars promises to be a strong addition to the acclaimed American Presidents series. Abridged. 3 CDs. …More

George Washington: A Biography By Alden, John Richard Author Rh Value Publishing 1995-03 - Random House Value Publishing 9780517122914 Check Our Catalog 19 b&w illus. 352 pp. 6 x 9. …More

Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington By Brookhiser, Richard 1996-02 - Free Press 9780684822914 Check Our Catalog Brookhiser recaptures the real George Washington in this against-the-grain biographical study that chronicles a remarkable quarter-century career in public life--a record of achievements that is virtually unmatched by any modern leader. Brookhiser recounts Washington's heroic deeds as general and president, his temperament and training, and reflects upon his legacy. …More

His Excellency: George Washington By Ellis, Joseph J. 2004-10 - Knopf Publishing Group 9781400040315 Check Our Catalog A BookPage Notable Title The author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Founding Brothers and the National Book Award-winning American Sphinx comes a landmark biography that brings to life in all his complexity the most important and perhaps least understood figure in American history--George Washington. 16 pages of photos. …More

An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America By Wiencek, Henry 2003-11 - Farrar Straus Giroux 9780374175269 Check Our Catalog In this groundbreaking work, Wiencek explores George Washington's engagement with slavery at every stage of his life--as a Virginia planter, soldier, politician, president and statesman. Washington's heroic stature as Father of Our Country is not diminished in this superb, nuanced portrait: now readers see him in full as a man of his time and ahead of his time. …More

Inventing a Nation: Washington, Adams, Jefferson By Vidal, Gore 2003-10 - Yale University Press 9780300101713 Check Our Catalog In Inventing a Nation, Vidal transports the reader into the minds, the living rooms (and bedrooms), the convention halls, and the salons of Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and others. We come to know these men, through Vidals splendid and percipient prose, in ways we have not up to now--their opinions of each other, their worries about money, their concerns about creating a viable democracy. Vidal brings them to life at the key moments of decision in the birthing of our nation. He also illuminates the force and weight of the documents they wrote, the speeches they delivered, and the institutions of government by which we still live. More than two centuries later, America is still largely governed by the ideas championed by this triumvirate. …More

Benjamin Franklin

The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin By Brands, H. W. 2000-09 - Doubleday Books 9780385493284 Check Our Catalog This first major biography of Benjamin Franklin in more than 60 years presents previously unpublished letters to and by the brilliant scientist, businessman, diplomat, philosopher, and writer. As "The First American" makes clear, Franklin was, in every respect, America's first Renaissance man. …More

Benjamin Franklin By Gaustad, Edwin S. 2006-02 - Oxford University Press 9780195305357 Check Our Catalog Written by a leading authority on colonial America, this compact biography captures in a remarkably small space one of the most protean lives in the nation's history--that of inventor, publisher, and statesman Benjamin Franklin. Illustrations. …More

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life By Isaacson, Walter 2003-07 - Simon & Schuster 9780684807614 Check Our Catalog A BookPage Notable Title Rescuing Benjamin Franklin from the clich of genial codger, this book celebrates the most interesting, advanced, and earthy of the founding fathers. 16-page four-color insert. …More

The Private Franklin: The Man and His Family By Lopez, Claude Anne With Herbert, Eugenia W. 1985-05 - W. W. Norton & Company 9780393302271 Check Our Catalog …More

Benjamin Franklin By Morgan, Edmund S. Foreword by Franklin, Benjamin 2002-08 - Yale University Press 9780300095326 Check Our Catalog Perhaps the most remarkable figure in American history, Benjamin Franklin was a man of vast contradictions as this brilliant biography of the statesman, scientist, and moralist demonstrates. Unraveling the enigma of Franklin's character, Morgan shows that he was the rare individual who consistently placed public interest above his own desires. Illustrations. …More

James Madison

James Madison and the Spirit of Republican Self-Government By Sheehan, Colleen A. 2009-02 - Cambridge University Press 9780521727334 Check Our Catalog Sheehan argues that Madison's vision for the new nation was informed by the idea of republican self-government. …More

The Federalist Papers By Hamilton, Alexander Author Madison, James Author Jay, John 2004-06 - Pocket Books 9780743487719 Check Our Catalog ENDURING LITERATURE ILLUMINATED BY PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIP Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay's brilliant and controversial collection of essays and articles that define and explain the ideals upon which the United States of America was founded. EACH ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES: - A concise introduction that gives readers important background information - A chronology of the author's life and work - A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context - An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations - Detailed explanatory notes - Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work - Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction - A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience Enriched Classics offer readers affordable editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and insightful commentary. The scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to appreciate, understand, and enjoy the world's finest books to their full potential. SERIES EDITED BY CYNTHIA BRANTLEY JOHNSON …More

James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights By Labunski, Richard 2008-05 - Oxford University Press, USA 9780195341423 Check Our Catalog Labunski offers a dramatic account of a time when the entire American experiment hung in the balance, only to be saved by the most unlikely of heroes--the diminutive and exceedingly shy James Madison. …More

Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton By Chernow, Ron 2004-04 - Penguin Press 9781594200090 Check Our Catalog Winner - 2005 ALA Notable Non-Fiction Selection A BookPage Notable Title From National Book Award winner Ron Chernow comes a landmark biography of Alexander Hamilton, the Founding Father who galvanized, inspired, scandalized, and shaped the newborn nation. …More

The Duel: The Parallel Lives of Alexander Hamilton & Aaron Burr By St George, Judith 2009-06 - Viking Children's Books 9780670011247 Check Our Catalog Told in alternating chapters, this lively biography follows the curiously parallel lives of Hamilton and Burr, and brings to life two complex men who played major roles in the formation of the United States. …More

The Whiskey Rebellion: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Frontier Rebels Who Challenged America's Newfound Sovereignty By Hogeland, William 2010-06 - Simon & Schuster 9780743254915 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title A gripping and provocative tale of violence, alcohol, and taxes, The Whiskey Rebellion pits President George Washington and Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton against angry, armed settlers across the Appalachians. Unearthing a pungent segment of early American history long ignored by historians, William Hogeland brings to startling life the rebellion that decisively contributed to the establishment of federal authority. …More