Founding Times
Ask. As Written in 1787.
Pose any question of liberty, law, or self-government. Receive a sourced answer drawn only from the founding era — the records, the debates, the document itself.
Answers come from the Constitution as ratified and its founding-era records. Later amendments are excluded — and disclosed when they bear on your question.
Sourced from 1776–1791. Never modernized, always cited.
Consulting the records of the Convention…
From the Founding Records
The Reading Room
View the originals
The documents themselves — ink, quill, and hand. Each card opens the official archival scan, free and public domain.
Scans courtesy of the U.S. National Archives, the Library of Congress, and Yale's Avalon Project. All originals are public domain.
A place to begin