USConstitution.net Message Boards
Since 1997, the USConstitution.net site has had forums which allow users to
talk to the Webmaster and to each other. Most messages posted to the forums
still exist on the site, allowing users to review past opinions and allowing
searches to access previously performed research. This page provides access to
all of these forums.
The Original Boards
From August 1997 until July 2001, there was one message board on the site.
The messages, numbered from 1 to 11974, are divided into three archives.
- Archive 1 – messages
1 (08/07/1997) through 3996 (11/04/1999), 3639 total messages. - Archive 2 – messages
4001 (11/07/1999) through 7999 (12/12/2000), 3744 total messages. - Archive 3 – messages
8000 (12/12/2000) through 11974 (07/02/2001), 3817 total messages.
The Split
In July 2001, the one single message board was supporting both questions
about the Constitution and an active debate about the Constitution. The two
often got entangled, and in an effort to make sense of them, the two were split
into different boards. These boards were active through October 2003.
- Q&A Archive 1 –
messages 1 (07/02/2001) through 4729 (10/30/2003), 4486 total messages.
- Debate Archive 1 –
messages 1 (07/02/2001) through 4999 (09/26/2002), 4680 total messages. - Debate Archive 2 –
messages 5000 (09/26/2002) through 9999 (06/19/2003), 4297 total
messages. - Debate Archive 3 –
messages 10000 (06/19/2003) through 12948 (11/01/2003), 2137 total
messages.
The old boards also allowed users to post a profile for themselves. The
profiles of very active users have been retained, and can still be viewed.
The YaBB Generation
In November 2003, the software used for the USConstitution.net forums since
1997 was set aside, and a new package, called YaBB, was put into place.