The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States
Random House Publishing Group · Hardcover · June 24, 2025
#1 New York Times bestselling author Jon Meacham introduces America's essential founding documents in an elegant, readable, and timeless volume.
We earn from qualifying purchases.
- Who it’s for
- The Declaration and Constitution appear with Jon Meacham’s introduction on liberty and the nation’s founding.
- Genres
- Constitutional Theory, Revolutionary America (1775-1800), Constitutional Law
- Published
- Random House Publishing Group, June 24, 2025
Nearest books
Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved. Most of these share its genre: Revolutionary America (1775-1800).
The Greatest Sentence Ever WrittenWalter Isaacson75% matchAlso shares Constitutional Theory
The Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of IndependenceDelegates of The Constitutional Convention, Founding Fathers74% matchAlso shares Constitutional Theory
Lincoln SpeechesAbraham Lincoln, Allen C. Guelzo69% match
The American RevolutionGordon S. Wood69% match
Our Ancient FaithAllen C. Guelzo68% match
The American RevolutionGeoffrey C. Ward, Ken Burns67% match
Lincoln at GettysburgGarry Wills65% match
For younger readers: What Is the Constitution?, Lincoln in His Own Words, Songs of America: Young Reader's Edition
Start with three books, and this one can be the first.
Members get a new edition every morning: a route out from their books to essays, research and talks, with the reason for each.
Start with this bookAbout this book
#1 New York Times bestselling author Jon Meacham introduces America's essential founding documents in an elegant, readable, and timeless volume. In the winter of 1860–1861, facing the prospect of secession and civil war, President Abraham Lincoln held fast to the founding promise of the now-imperiled United States of America. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution had forged the nation, and Lincoln intended to defend them.
Continue reading
But even more importantly, Lincoln saw “something back of these, entwining itself more closely about the human heart. That something is the principle of ‘Liberty to all.’” That principle remains as vital today as it has been throughout the first 250 years of our nation’s history. Presented here with an introduction by bestselling American historian and biographer Jon Meacham, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America are both timeless and timely, offering a window into the complex poltical world of the nation's founders—and important lessons for our own. As Meacham writes, “If America is to be America, the foundational documents reprinted here must be not theoretical but tactile, not quaint but vivid, not dead but alive.”
Founding Documents
The Declaration and Constitution appear with Jon Meacham’s introduction on liberty and the nation’s founding.
Come here for
- The Declaration of Independence
- The Constitution of the United States
Expect
- The two founding documents, reprinted in full
- Meacham’s introduction connects their principles to the present
Where it sits
| Constitutional Theory | 57% |
|---|---|
| Revolutionary America (1775-1800) | 41% |
| Constitutional Law | 27% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Revolutionary America (1775-1800)
- Democracy
- Constitutional Theory
- Authors
- Jon Meacham
- Publisher
- Random House Publishing Group
- Published
- June 24, 2025
- Format
- Hardcover
- Reading lane
- Revolutionary America (1775-1800)