Funding: Digitization was made possible by a lead gift from The Polonsky Foundation.
Acquisition: Donated by Alexander Hamilton (1816-1889) to the Astor Library in 1885.

Physical Description

Extent: .1 linear feet 1 volume

Abstract

Alexander Hamilton's autograph draft of a constitution for the United States government, 1787. Alexander Hamilton was an American statesman and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury. He was a New York delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The draft, in ten articles, is a more developed expression of the outline or plan of a constitution presented by Hamilton at the Constitutional Convention on June 18, 1787. While the document is undated, its text resembles that copied by James Madison, identified as being given to him by Hamilton at the close of the Convention in September, 1787. The document consists of 10 leaves with 18 pages of text, and 1 page of notes with title endorsement, bound in 1 volume.

Languages

English

Identifiers

RLIN/OCLC: 900233760
NYPL Catalog ID (bnumber): b20514337
Archives ID: 23121
Archives Collections ID: 23121
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): e6ec5ee0-831a-0132-00b2-58d385a7b928

Rights

The New York Public Library believes that this item is in the public domain under the laws of the United States, but did not make a determination as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. This item may not be in the public domain under the laws of other countries. Though not required, if you want to credit us as the source, please use the following statement, "From The New York Public Library," and provide a link back to the item on our Digital Collections site. Doing so helps us track how our collection is used and helps justify freely releasing even more content in the future.

Type Of Resource

Text

Cite this item

MLA format

Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library. "Alexander Hamilton plan of a constitution for America" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1787. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/e6ec5ee0-831a-0132-00b2-58d385a7b928

APA format

Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library. (1787). Alexander Hamilton plan of a constitution for America Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/e6ec5ee0-831a-0132-00b2-58d385a7b928

Chicago/Turabian Format

Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library. "Alexander Hamilton plan of a constitution for America" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed December 7, 2025. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/e6ec5ee0-831a-0132-00b2-58d385a7b928

Wikipedia citation

<ref name=NYPL>{{cite web | url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/e6ec5ee0-831a-0132-00b2-58d385a7b928 | title= (text) Alexander Hamilton plan of a constitution for America (1787) | author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library | accessdate=December 7, 2025 | publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref>