Constitution Day!

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 on 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:

George Washington

Washington's God: Religion, Liberty, and the Father of Our Country By Novak, Michael Author Novak, Jana 2006-03 - Basic Books 9780465051267 Check Our Catalog A leading conservative thinker offers the first in-depth look at the religious life of America's greatest founding father, George Washington. …More

Valley Forge: George Washington and the Crucible of Victory By Gingrich, Newt Author Forstchen, William R. Author Hanser, Albert S. 2010-11 - Thomas Dunne Books 9780312591076 Check Our Catalog In "To Try Men's Souls, New York Times"-bestselling authors Gingrich and Forstchen cast a new light on the year 1776 and the man who would become the father of our nation, George Washington. "Valley Forge" picks up the narrative a year after Washington's triumphant surprise attack on Trenton. Much has changed since then. …More

Washington: A Life By Chernow, Ron 2010-10 - Penguin Press 9781594202667 Check Our Catalog 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Biography Winner BookPage Notable Title From National Book Award-winner Chernow comes a landmark biography of George Washington--a richly nuanced portrait of the father of the nation featuring a breadth and depth unmatched by any other narrative. …More

Amer Pres: Washington: The American Presidents Series: The 1st President, 1789-1797 By Dunn, Susan Author Burns, James MacGregor Editor Schlesinger, Arthur Meier, Jr. 2004-01 - Times Books 0805069364 Check Our Catalog A premier leadership scholar and an 18th century expert define the special contributions of the first president--revolutionary hero, founding president, and first citizen of the young republic. …More

Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington By Brookhiser, Richard 1996-02 - Free Press 0684822911 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 1400040310 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

Benjamin Franklin

Compleated Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin By Franklin, Benjamin Editor Skousen, Mark 2005-11 - Regnery Publishing 9780895260338 Check Our Catalog Readers and historians have long lamented that Benjamin Franklin failed to finish his ""Autobiography."" Now, in honor of the 300th anniversary of Franklin's birth, Mark Skousen has accomplished what the old philosopher was unable to complete: He has finished the "Autobiography" completely in Franklin's own words. …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

The First Scientific American: Benjamin Franklin and the Pursuit of Genius By Chaplin, Joyce 2006-04 - Perseus Books Group 9780465009558 Check Our Catalog Statesman, diplomat, Founding Father--Benjamin Franklin was all of these things, but, according to Chaplin, it is his status as a scientific genius that is the key to understanding him and his world. Illustrations. …More

Inventing America: The Life of Benjamin Franklin By Essig, Mark Regan 2006-03 - Rutledge Hill Press 1401602371 Check Our Catalog Using the same "Museum in a Book" format as the popular "Lewis and Clark on the Trail of Discovery," this biography brings Benjamin Franklin to life through words and such removable documents as portions of "Poor Richard's Almanack" and Franklin's edits to the Declaration of Independence. …More

Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World By Talbott, Page Editor Dunn, Richard S. Editor Van Horne, John C. 2005-11 - Yale University Press 0300107994 Check Our Catalog Designed to accompany the traveling Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary exhibition celebrating Franklin's 300th birthday, this volume includes essays that offer an overview of Franklin's life and achievements, illustrated by more than 250 color images--portraits, manuscripts, drawings, maps, paintings, engravings, and a plethora of Franklin possessions. …More

Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton By Chernow, Ron 2004-04 - Penguin Press 1594200092 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

Hamilton's Curse: How Jefferson's Archenemy Betrayed the American Revolution--And What It Means for Americans Today By Dilorenzo, Thomas J. 2008-10 - Crown Forum 9780307382849 Check Our Catalog In refreshing contrast to the many biographies that credit Alexander Hamiltonwith turning America into an economic power, the author of "The Real Lincoln"clarifies how Hamilton's ideas are actually a betrayal of the very principlesof the American Revolution. …More

Citizen Hamilton: The Wit and Wisdom of an American Founder By Hickey, Donald R. Editor Clark, Connie D. 2005-11 - Rowman & Littlefield Publishers 0742549755 Check Our Catalog In this elegant collection, Donald R. Hickey and Connie D. Clark bring together enlightening, important, and amusing selections from Hamilton's speeches, published writings and personal letters. As we come to understand his thoughts on subjects as diverse as the Constitution, love, war, liberty and honor, we find that his words are often as applicable in our own time as they were in his. …More

Alexander Hamilton By Chernow, Ron 2005-04 - Penguin Books 0143034758 Check Our Catalog The renowned author of "Titan," whom the "New York Times" has called "as elegant an architect of monumental histories as we've seen in decades," vividly recreates the whole sweep of Alexander Hamilton's turbulent life. …More

James Madison

Madison and Jefferson By Burstein, Andrew Author Isenberg, Nancy 2010-09 - Random House 9781400067282 Check Our Catalog Esteemed historians Burstein and Isenberg join forces to reveal the crucial partnership of two extraordinary founders, creating a superb dual biography that is a thrilling and unprecedented account of early America. …More

The Activist: John Marshall, Marbury V. Madison, and the Myth of Judicial Review By Goldstone, Lawrence 2008-09 - Walker & Company 9780802714886 Check Our Catalog …More

James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights By Labunski, Richard E. 2006-07 - Oxford University Press 9780195181050 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

Young Patriots: The Remarkable Story of Two Men, Their Impossible Plan, and the Revolution That Created the Constitution By Cerami, Charles 2005-05 - Sourcebooks 1402202350 Check Our Catalog From "New York Times" bestselling author Cerami comes the great underdog story of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, who envisioned a plan that no one else thought could happen--a truly United States. …More

Franklin, Jefferson, and Madison: On Religion and the State By Schaaf, Gregory 2004-07 - Center for Indigenous Arts & Cultures (C I A 0966694899 Check Our Catalog The product of twenty years of careful research in the National Archives, Library of Congress, and other libraries, this book presents views on a national theme, "Religion and the State." The ideas of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison on Church-State issues, as well as their personal religious views, reflect the roots of religion in America. The Founders' ideas on the "free exercise of religion" illuminate their original intent regarding our First Amendment rights. See display ad in New York Times Book Review (July 4, 2004), p. 3. …More