Constitutional History

Twelve states ratified the Articles of Confederation between August 1777 and July 1778, and the required unanimous 13th state, Maryland, completed ratification on March 1, 1781,...

The Anti-Federalists were a diverse coalition of writers, local officials, and ordinary citizens who opposed the 1787 U.S. Constitution, arguing it concentrated too much power a...

James Madison is widely credited as the principal author of the United States Constitution, yet the document emerged from a collective process involving 55 delegates at the 1787...

The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut were drafted and adopted in January 1639 by representatives from the towns of Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield. The key debates and vote...

The Three-Fifths Compromise referred to how enslaved people were counted for representation and taxation in the U.S. Constitution. Delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Conventio...

Anti-Federalist No. 84 addresses the debate over whether the proposed U.S. Constitution should include a bill of rights. Written under the pseudonym Brutus—likely Robert Yates...

Anti-Federalist No. 84 examines how the proposed Constitution should be interpreted to preserve meaningful state authority and protect individual liberties. This overview explai...

Anti-Federalist No. 84 is a written response to the proposed U.S. Constitution that argues the document should not include a bill of rights, contending that enumerated rights co...

The impact of the English Bill of Rights on the development of democracy in England is most accurately understood as a foundational recalibration of constitutional relationships...

The Glorious Revolution of 1688 was a pivotal constitutional turning point in British history in which political factions invited Dutch stadtholder William of Orange to assume t...