Students should achieve a higher level of understanding and appreciation of the evolving nature of the U.S. Constitution and its relevance to contemporary societal issues by studying historical documents from the period of time between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. This document begins with a history of that period and of the documents that were generated. A chronology of events from the Annapolis Convention of 1786 through Virginia's ratification of the Bill of Rights in 1791 follows along with a presentation of 27 documents, including: (1) the Articles of Confederation; (2) the Northwest Ordinance; (3) letters written by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson; (4) transcripts of various debates; (5) the Virginia and the New Jersey plans for Union; (6) the Constitution of the United States; (7) some of the papers from "The Federalist"; (8) amendments proposed by Massachusetts and Virginia; and (9) the Bill of Rights. A bibliographical essay suggests 29 items for further reading. An appendix offers high school lesson plans for three of the documents presented: (1) the Virginia plan for Union; (2) debate on executive power; and (3) debate on the judiciary, the veto, and the separation of powers. These plans include a brief pretest quiz, detailed plans for instructor and students, including definition of terms, recommended resources, and techniques for effective individual, small group, and whole class instruction, and essay and objective questions for use in posttesting. The lesson plans are adaptable for use with other documents. (JB)