LibGuides: Bill of Rights: Background, History & Roots

Documents that Influenced the Bill of Rights

English Bill of Rights - 1689
The English Bill of Rights is a direct antecedent of the American Bill of Rights.
more...less...
View the manuscript here: http://explore.bl.uk/BLVU1:LSCOP-WEBSITE:MBsie3211
Magna Carta - 1215
Many of the Bill of Rights amendments have their roots in the 1215 document that delineated nobles' rights in England.
The Virginia Declaration of Rights - 1776
The amendments in the Constitution (the Bill of Rights) are directly taken from the Virginia Declaration of Rights.

Want more information on the history of the Bill of Rights? Check our Databases

Search the databases listed below. Use your own search terms and then check the database's subject terms in the results. Incorporate those subject terms into a new search for comprehensive and precise results.

Academic Search Complete
Access to articles from magazines and peer-reviewed journals, as well as books, conference papers and proceedings, and educational reports from almost all academic areas of study.
America: History and Life
Index and some fulltext to journal articles and reviews on the history and culture of the United States and Canada. Inlcudes CLIO notes (see top of interface) providing chronologies and brief summaries of significant events and themes in history.
Guide to Law Online
An annotated guide to national and international sources of government and legal information prepared by the Law Library of Congress; includes links to treaties, constitutions, and codes.
Historical Abstracts
Provides access to academic historical journals that cover the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present. Coverage is from 1955 to the present.

Books

Bill of Rights: a documentary history. by Schwartz, Bernard
Call Number: John Jay College - Stacks - KF4744 1971
Publication Date: 1971
Complete Bill of Rights : the drafts, debates, sources, and origins by Cogan, Neil H.
Call Number: John Jay College - Reference Law - KF 4744 2015
ISBN: 019510322X
Publication Date: 2015
This is an eBook (click on the title). Hard copy is also available using the Call number above.
Origins of the American Constitution : a documentary history by Kammen, Michael G.
Call Number: John Jay College - Stacks - KF 4502 .O73 1986
ISBN: 0140087443
Publication Date: 1986

Compare Constitutions

Constitute: The World's Constitutions to Read, Search and Compare

World Constitutions Illustrated
Provides access to the current constitution of every country in its native language (English translations for most), and links to related scholarly articles, books, bibliographies, and web sites.

Websites

A More Perfect Union: The Creation of the U.S. Constitution
American Founding: The Bill of Rights
Site has spreadsheets and charts comparing rights listed in the Bill of Rights with those in individual state constitutions, British and colonial charters and documents.
Avalon Project
Yale Law School's Avalon project provides the transcript of major legal and diplomatic documents internationally throughout history.

Primary Source Documents Online

In addition to finding primary source material in the books and sources listed on this page, the following websites contain primary source documents and materials:

Bill of Rights: Primary Documents
The Library of Congress's collection of personal journals, letters and notes as well as other primary sources relating to the Bill of Rights.
Primary Documents in American History - U.S. Constitution
This Library of Congress collection contains journals, letters, broadsides and other documents related to the drafting of the Constitution, its amendments and the key players.