WebJunction

History of Congress

RSS

Current funding for the Gi21 program ended on September 30, 2008 and the information found in the program modules is up-to-date as of December 31, 2008. To facilitate use of the modules from now till the future continuation of the program, new documents can be posted from each module and sub-module main pages and the community discussions are open. However the main module pages and documents will not be updated. If you have any questions, please contact Kirsten Clark.

This section of the History & Genealogy module focuses on the history of the U.S. Congress and on Congressional actions.

Contents

Key Resources

A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates
This database contains Congressional materials from 1774-1875. This includes bills, journals, debates, and documents from Congress.

Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789
This collection, from American Memory, contains documents relating to the workings of the Contential Congress and the creation of the Constitution.

How Our Laws are Made
This guide from the Parliamentarian of the House of Representatives explains the steps from the discussion of the idea of a new type of legislation to the final form as a law of the United States. In this in-depth guide not only are there definitions of the different types of legislation (bill, resolutions, etc.), but also an explanation of the committee process and what is in the various committee reports.

THOMAS (Library of Congress)
Thomas includes full text of laws, bills, the Congressional Record, and other information related to the daily workings of Congress.

Guides to Resources