U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates (1774-1875) by Barbara Davis and Robert Brammer (law library specialists at the Library of Congress).
A video introduction to the website A Century of Lawmaking For a New Nation.
I know you are probably wondering why I would post on this resource considering that I just posted on finding popular topics for topic maps! 😉
Popularity, beyond social media popularity, is in the eye of the beholder. This sort of material would appeal to anyone who debates the “intent” of the original framers of the constitution, the American Enterprise Institute for example.
Justice Justice Scalia would be another likely consumer of a topic map based on these materials. He advocates what Wikipedia calls “…textualism in statutory interpretation and originalism in constitutional interpretation.”
Put anyone seeking to persuade Justice Scalia of their cause, is another likely consumer for such a topic map. Or prospective law clerks for that matter. Tying this material to Scalia’s opinions and other writings would increase the value of such a map.
The topic mapping theory part would be fun but imaging Scalia solving the problem of other minds and discerning their intent over two hundred (200) years later would require more imagination than I can muster on most days.