The Constitution of the United States & Selected Writings

This beautiful hardcover volume contains the two documents every American and citizen of the world should read: the complete text of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America, along with all 27 of its amendments.

A full, analytical index of the original Constitution and all of its ratified amendments follows.

On July 4, 1776, in the midst of the Revolutionary War, the thirteen colonies of the United States ratified a document that would later be known as the Declaration of Independence. In it, the Continental Congress and the people it represented declared they were no longer under the rule of Great Britain and were now the United States.

The Delegates who convened at the Federal Convention in Philadelphia on May 25, 1787, agreed to construct a new framework for a national government. Throughout the next four months, led by their elected president, George Washington, they debated the proper form such government should take.

Once the Constitution was constructed, the debates that ensued in state senates while it was being ratified by each state made clear the need for additions to the basic framework drafted in Philadelphia to protect certain liberties at the core of American traditions. James Madison, then a member of the new United States House of Representative, drafted a list of amendments to guarantee the freedoms that Americans hold dear that would become known as the Bill of Rights.

The documents in this collection are a monument to the combined spirit of all Americans as well as a testament to the extraordinary minds of our founding fathers, who put them on paper.

Whether you are a history buff looking to enhance your library
or you are studying or teaching US government in school or at home and need a sturdy, portable reference
or you simply want to be able to prove that you are right in your political arguments, wherever they may occur--this edition containing the exact, uninterrupted words of America's founders is what you are looking for.

Essential volumes for the shelves of every classic literature lover, the Chartwell Classics series includes beautifully presented works and collections from some of the most important authors in literary history. Chartwell Classics are the editions of choice for the most discerning literature buffs.

Other titles in the Chartwell Classics series include: The Essential Tales & Poems of Edgar Allen Poe
The Essential Tales of H.P. Lovecraft
The Federalist Papers
The Inferno
The Call of the Wild and White Fang
Moby Dick
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Emma
The Great Gatsby
The Secret Garden
Anne of Green Gables
The Phantom of the Opera
The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital
The Republic
Frankenstein
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Meditations
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass
A Tales of Two Cities
Beowulf
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Little Women
Wuthering Heights
Peter Pan
Persuasion
Aesop's Fables
The Alchemist
Crime and Punishment
Dracula
Great Expectations
The Iliad
Irish and Fairy Folk Tales
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
The War of the Worlds
and The Time Machine and The Invisible Man.