Welcome to Quill
The Quill Project studies the history of negotiated texts. It is a research project based at Pembroke College, Oxford.
Using the records of the processes that have created constitutions, treaties, or legislation, it offers a recreation of the contexts within which decisions were made, visualizations allow the process of negotiation to be understood and explored, and commentary on specific points of interest.
Watch our video introduction to negotiated texts and Quill Project.
Our flagship project examines the work of the 1787 Constitutional Convention that created the Constitution of the United States.
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Text Finders
Resources to help you find particular texts or points of interest within our records.
Quick Introduction
An introduction to the nature of formal negotiations and how our platform lets you explore them.
Meetings on this day in history:
United States Constitutional Convention 1787 (2016 Edition), Committee of Eleven of July 2nd, 03 Jul 1787 (18 events in this session)
U.S. Constitutional Convention 1787 (2019 Edition), First Committee on Representation, 03 Jul 1787 (23 events in this session)
Flagship project: Constitutional Convention 1787
The Constitution of the United States of America was written by a Constitutional Convention held in the summer of 1787. Between May and September, a group of delegates from most states met in secret to negotiate a text that was then presented to the states of the Union.
Latest Project: 1895 Utah Constitutional Convention
The Constitution for the State of Utah was written in a constitutional convention held in Salt Lake City in 1895. The proceedings of this convention have been edited by students at the Center for Constitutional Studies at Utah Valley University.
Resources
View the resource collections held by or linked to by the Quill platform.
Commentaries
View the commentary collections that will help you to understand particular issues.