Jonah Patel
The Constitution of the United States is the oldest in the world, written over 225 years ago. The National Constitution Center has launched a free app, the Interactive Constitution, which features the full text of the Constitution and allows students, educators, and citizens to access its content anytime, anywhere. The app also includes the full text of all 85 Federalist Papers, written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and others, which provide insights into the Constitution's creation and the founding principles of America. The app has been called an Internet sensation by USA Today, especially among young people, with over six million unique page views.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name | Interactive Constitution |
| Developer | National Constitution Center |
| Availability | App Store, Google Play |
| Cost | Free |
| Content | Full text of the U.S. Constitution, essays by scholars, analysis of the first 15 Amendments, videos, podcasts, blog posts, primary texts, historical documents, photos of the authentic Constitution document, brief history of the Constitution and the Federalist Papers |
| Extras | No ads, ability to create a "favorites" section, ability to email "favorites" to a friend |
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What You'll Learn
The National Constitution Center's Interactive Constitution app
The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia is a non-profit and non-partisan organisation that offers a range of resources and tools to help people learn about the US Constitution. One of these tools is the Interactive Constitution app, which is free to download on Apple and Android devices. The app presents the full text of the US Constitution and features annotations, essays, and analysis from leading scholars of diverse legal and philosophical perspectives. It also includes historical documents and videos, podcasts, and blog posts on constitutional topics.
The app is designed to engage users in deep thinking and analysis of the Constitution and America's founding principles. It allows users to explore the different interpretations and debates behind the Constitution, with Common Interpretations detailing areas of agreement and Matters of Debate presenting individual statements by scholars. The app also includes an About The Constitution section that provides background information on the Constitution's history and application.
The Interactive Constitution app has been well-received, with over six million unique page views and USA Today calling it an "Internet sensation". It is particularly popular among young people and is featured by the College Board in its Advanced Placement history and government courses. The app is also available in a Classroom Edition, which includes additional educational resources such as videos featuring Supreme Court Justices, lesson plans, and moderated discussions between classrooms across America via video link.
The National Constitution Center offers other resources beyond the app, such as live guided tours, virtual classes, and interactive online events. They also provide a wide range of educational videos, primary source documents, and lesson plans for educators, students, and families. The Center's newest gallery offers a fresh perspective on the First Amendment and its impact on modern society, inviting visitors to sign the Constitution alongside life-size statues of the Founding Fathers.
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The Library of Congress's Constitution Annotated app
The Constitution Annotated app was created by the Library of Congress, the nation's oldest federal cultural institution, in collaboration with the Government Printing Office (GPO). The app was designed to make the nearly 3,000-page "Constitution Annotated" volume more accessible to the public. The volume, officially titled "The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation," has been published every 10 years with updates issued every two years. However, due to its size and update cycle, the print version has primarily been used by federal lawmakers, libraries, and law firms.
The app is available for free on the iOS platform and can be downloaded from iTunes. It allows users to read the entire document, browse by section, such as by article or amendment, view and navigate content from a table of cases and index, and search all text. An Android version of the app is also under development.
The release of the Constitution Annotated app coincided with the 100th anniversary of the first publication of "The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation" in 1913. The app provides users with timely access to an enhanced, authenticated version of the "Constitution Annotated" through GPO's Federal Digital System. It is part of the Library of Congress's mission to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding by providing access to knowledge through its collections, programs, publications, and exhibitions.
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The Federalist Papers
The authors of The Federalist Papers initially attempted to hide their identities due to Hamilton and Madison's attendance at the Constitutional Convention. However, their identities were correctly discerned by astute observers. After Hamilton's death in 1804, a list emerged claiming that he alone had written two-thirds of the essays. Modern scholarly analysis has since corroborated that Hamilton wrote 51 articles, Madison wrote 29, and Jay wrote five.
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Alexander Hamilton's views on the impact of ratification
Alexander Hamilton was a key figure in the ratification of the United States Constitution. As a member of Congress, he attended the Constitutional Convention at Independence Hall in Philadelphia in 1787, where he presented his "
Hamilton was a leading contributor to the Federalist Papers, a series of 85 articles and essays written under the pseudonym "Publius" in New York newspapers. The Federalist Papers were written to persuade readers to support ratification and were essential in convincing Americans to back the Constitution. Hamilton wrote 51 of these essays, in which he argued against the inclusion of a bill of rights, claiming that the new Constitution did not vest power over these rights in the federal government.
Hamilton also played a crucial role in the New York ratification convention, where he was one of 19 Federalists facing 47 Anti-Federalists. Over six weeks, he spoke 26 times in support of the Constitution, ultimately convincing New York to become the 11th state to ratify it on July 26, 1788. This was a significant victory, as without New York, the new government would likely have collapsed into separate confederacies.
Hamilton's views on the impact of ratification were shaped by his belief in a strong central government and his interpretation of federal power. He understood that a powerful economic system was necessary for America to become an industrial power and, as Secretary of the Treasury, he implemented economic programs to fund the national debt, secure federal credit, encourage manufacturing, and establish a national bank. Hamilton also developed the concept of "implied powers", which allowed the federal government to take actions in support of the Constitution that were not explicitly stated within it.
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Essays by leading scholars
The National Constitution Center has launched a free app called the Interactive Constitution, which features the full text of the U.S. Constitution and essays by leading scholars. These essays detail areas of agreement and disagreement across a range of philosophical and legal perspectives. The app also includes the full analysis of the first 15 Amendments to the Constitution and the Articles, or Structural Constitution, from scholars representing different viewpoints. The app is available on the App Store and Google Play, allowing students, educators, and citizens to access the content anytime, anywhere, on any device.
The Interactive Constitution app is designed to foster deep thinking and analysis of the Constitution and America's founding principles. It provides access to videos, podcasts, and blog posts on constitutional topics, as well as primary texts and historical documents. One unique feature of the app is the ability to easily compare the original Constitution with its modern application, as it highlights changes made by subsequent amendments or rulings. This makes it a valuable tool for understanding the evolution of the Constitution over time.
The app has received praise from various individuals and organizations, including John Williamson, the College Board's vice president of Advanced Placement, who highlighted its potential to engage students in conversations about liberty, justice, and human dignity. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, also commended the app for making one of the world's greatest legal documents more accessible to people across America.
In addition to the Interactive Constitution app, there are other applications available that provide access to the Constitution of the United States. One such app is simply called "Constitution" and it includes the full text of the Constitution, explanations for each clause, and commentaries on the amendments. It also features the complete text of all 85 Federalist Papers and James Madison's Journal of the Constitutional Convention. This app has been well-received by users who appreciate the lack of advertisements and the ability to zoom in on the actual image of the Constitution.
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Frequently asked questions
The original US Constitution is kept in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom in the National Archives Building in Washington, DC.
The US Constitution was moved to the National Archives Building in 1952.
The US Constitution is hermetically sealed between glass plates with inert helium gas to protect it from the corrosive effects of normal air.
Yes, the US Constitution is displayed to the public and has millions of visitors a year.
