ShipLibrary Blog

Constitution Day 2025

On September 17th, 1787, the United States Constitution was signed in Philadelphia by 39 delegates, replacing the Articles of Confederation and establishing the form of government that we see today. 238 years later, we celebrate the day to remember the principles that founded this nation. 

At Shippensburg University, we have several events running on Constitution Day which we welcome you to attend.  

• 10 am: Join us in front of Lehman Library Plaza for a reading of the preamble of the Constitution by GBLUES students and remarks by University President, Charles Patterson.  
• 6 pm: Political Science professor, Steven Lichtman, will be providing a riveting keynote address on the topic of Religion and the Constitution at the Rob Lieblein and Alera Group Forum in Grove Hall.

Additionally, the library will be hosting an exhibit showcasing GBLUES students' art and information about the Constitution. This exhibit will be running from September 15th to September 30th in our upstairs gallery so make sure to stop by! 

The library will also be providing pocket-sized editions of the Constitution for all those interested.

Additional Reading: 

Constitution: Overview, Issues and Interpretations by Jackelyn Haggerty

ISBN: 9781536141986

Publication Date: 2018-08-15

While exercising its power to review the constitutionality of governmental action, the Supreme Court has relied on certain methods or modes of interpretation that is, ways of figuring out a particular meaning of provision within the Constitution. The first chapter or report broadly describes the most common modes of constitutional interpretation. The next chapters herein examine the Speech or Debate Clause of the US Constitution; provides an overview of Congresss power under the Constitution and Congresss role in interpreting the nations founding document; and discusses contemporary issues for Congress with regards to Article V of the US Constitution, and the two methods by which the nations founding charter may be amended.

 

Liberty, Property, and the Foundations of the American Constitution by Ellen Frankel Paul (Editor); Howard Dickman (Editor)

ISBN: 9780887069154

Publication Date: 1988-12-31

Here is what the Framers of the Constitution thought about economic rights. To the current debate over constitutional interpretation, this book adds a dispassionate examination of our beginnings. It focuses on the philosophical, political, and social currents that influenced the thought and behavior of the Framers. What was the relationship between property rights and liberty? How important to the Framers was the protection of economic liberties? In what ways does the Constitution protect these liberties? Was the Constitution a document forged with the intent of securing what would later be called a capitalist system? Or were the Framers primarily concerned with promoting a society based upon civic virtue? These are a few of the major themes that the authors of this volume address.

 

We the People by Harold Faber; Doris Faber

ISBN: 9780684187532

Publication Date: 1987-03-01

Recounts the evolution of our Constitution from the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and discusses the changes that have come about in the ensuing 200 years.