Understanding the U.S. Constitution

Considering the intense public discussion about various portions of the U.S. Constitution recently, you may want to refresh your understanding of all or part of it and read related annotations, essays, or scholarship. 

Here are a few key resources you may find useful:

The Constitution Annotated: “In publication for over 100 years, The Constitution of the United States: Analysis and Interpretation – a.k.a., The Constitution Annotated or CONAN, is a comprehensive, government-sanctioned record of the interpretations of the Constitution.” For annotations, click the gray box in the upper right of each section. Cornell Law School has developed a version of CONAN organized in an outline of hyperlinks if you prefer that format.

Annenberg Guide to the U.S. Constitution – the text of the U.S. Constitution followed in each section by an interpretation of that section; a project of the Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, a nonpartisan communication policy center; policy-wise they lean progressive.

The Heritage Guide to the Constitution – the text of the U.S. Constitution accompanied by several essays that offer interpretations of each article as well as amendments; a project of The Heritage Foundation, a policy center not affiliated with a specific political party; their mission is to “promote conservative public policies.”

JSTOR’s Understanding the Constitution – an interface to the text of the U.S. Constitution with a section-by-section right margin that links directly to articles from JSTOR that cite that corresponding section. TIP: Log into your JSTOR account before using this tool so you can immediately access articles that interest you.

Accessing the Wall Street Journal from home

Students and faculty have expressed appreciation for our school’s access to wsj.com this year, but the second access step can be confusing. It appears that you need to verify the corresponding email address but that is not necessary; instead, you may click “Continue to WSJ” and go directly to the site.

This quick video shows how to log in to wsj.com. Our school password is on the password list available in the Dragons Research group in Schoology.

Note: Normally the Wall Street Journal does not provide access to their wsj.com site for school subscribers except when students are on campus (or logging in with a method that makes it look like they are). Due to the pandemic, they’re making a temporary exception. Enjoy our off-campus access while you can!