Although it was subsequently published as Volume VI in a revised edition of his "History of the United States of America," George Bancroft's "History of the Formation of the Constitution," 2 vols. (1882), is really a separate work. The author appears at his best in these volumes and has never been entirely superseded by later writers. G. T. Curtis's "History of the Constitution of the United States, "2 vols. (1854), which also subsequently appeared as Volume I of his "Constitutional History of the United States," is one of the standard works, but does not retain quite the same hold that Bancroft's volumes do.

Of the special works more nearly covering the same field as the present volume, A. C. McLaughlin's "The Confederation and the Constitution" (1905), in the "American Nation," is distinctly the best. John Fiske's "Critical Period of American History" (1888), written with the clearness of presentation and charm of style which are characteristic of the author, is an interesting and readable comprehensive account. Richard Frothingham's "Rise of the Republic of the United States" (1872; 6th ed.1895), tracing the two ideas of local self-government and of union, begins with early colonial times and culminates in the Constitution.