Constitution Day and Citizenship Day
September 17 is designated as Constitution Day and Citizenship Day to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787.
The Fiscal Year 2005 Consolidated Appropriations Act instructs each Federal agency to provide educational materials concerning the United States Constitution to each employee on September 17 of each year, and to provide each new employee with educational materials concerning the United States Constitution as part of their orientation.
NARA Online Resources
- Inside the Vaults: the Constitution of the United States. In a short video, Chief of Reference at the National Archives, Trevor Plante literally takes viewers inside the National Archives vaults to see some of his favorite rarely-displayed documents pertaining to the Constitution, including a printed copy of the Constitution with George Washington's handwritten annotations and Pennsylvania's ratification copy of the Constitution.
- Constitution of the United States. Drafted in secret by delegates to the Constitutional Convention during the summer of 1787, this four-page document, signed on September 17, 1787, established the government of the United States.
- Constitution of the United States: A Transcription. Transcription of the Constitution in its original form
- Constitution Q&A. Questions & Answers Pertaining to the Constitution, excerpted from The Story of the Constitution by Sol Bloom
- Constitution of the United States: A History. Based on the Introduction to A More Perfect Union: The Creation of the U.S. Constitution by Roger A. Bruns
- Download high-resolution images of the Constitution. Articles 1-7 of the U.S. Constitution as well as the subsequent amendments.
- Teaching With Documents: U.S. Constitution Workshop. A self-service online version of our popular on-site U. S. Constitution Workshop
- Visit the Constitution in Person. The Rotunda is the permanent home of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States, and Bill of Rights.
- Purchase Constitution Posters and Books
Other Online Resources
- Excerpt, Public Law 108-447 Section 111 of Title I, Division J, of the Fiscal Year 2005 Consolidated Appropriations Act, enacted into law on December 8, 2004, instructs each Federal agency to provide educational materials concerning the United States Constitution to each employee on September 17 of each year.
- The Oath of Office and the Constitution. Each Federal civil servant takes an oath of office by which they swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. The wording of the oath that's used today was adopted in 1884.
- OPM Constitution Initiative. Resources provided by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to Federal Executive Branch agencies and departments to support training of their employees on the U.S. Constitution.
- National Constitution Center – Centuries of Citizenship: A Constitutional Timeline. An online experience highlighting some of the key dates and events that mark more than 200 years of our constitutional history.
- National Constitution Center: Interactive U.S. Constitution. Search the text of the Constitution by keyword, explore the Constitution by topic, or search the text of the Constitution by Supreme Court decisions.
- Creative Ideas for Local Observances Examples of activities, meetings, and programs for the observance of Constitution Day and Citizenship Day.