I suspected parchment, but wasn't sure and had to look it up. From the US Constitution website: http://www.usconstitution.net/constfaq_a8.html#Q145 Q145. "What kind of paper was the Constitution written on?" A. Urban legend is that the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights were written on hemp paper, hemp being the industrial name for the fiber of the marijuana plant. For some reason, this "fact" is touted by those who seek to legalize marijuana for recreational use. First, it is not clear why the use of hemp as a fiber should mean it should be legalized for recreational use. Second, the "fact" is not a fact. The Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are currently housed in the National Archives. All three are written on parchment, not hemp paper. Parchment is treated animal skin, typically sheepskin. The Declaration was inked with iron gall ink. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory was commissioned to create a system to monitor the physical status of all three. The Charters of Freedom Monitoring System took digital photos of each sheet of parchment in 1987, each document divided into one-inch squares. Over time, the photos are retaken and compared to the original to look for signs of deterioration. Before the charters were recently reencased for display, a small tear in the Declaration was repaired by adding Japanese paper to the gap. This is the only paper in any of the documents. This is not to say that a copy of any of the documents was never written on hemp paper - just not the copies we see in the Archives Rotunda.

I would like to address some bias/confusion in this answer. All forms of the plant genus Cannabis are illegal as far as our federal government is concerned. This includes what we call “hemp”, which has no psychoactive properties, and what we call “marijuana”, which gives people a feeling of mild euphoria & has anecdotal evidence as a helpful medicine. This is akin to making all mushrooms illegal because some will get you high. When cannabis activists “tout” the presence of an active hemp industry at the time our country was founded, we are not making the simplistic connection written into this answer. We are pointing out how silly the blanket prohibition against growing cannabis is, especially the species of that plant that have industrial uses that would be valuable for us (like using it for paper instead of trees). While there are plenty of stoner types who hear a bit of this connection between our nation’s founders and the cannabis plant and run with it, truly informed advocates of industrial or medicinal cannabis are make the leap in logic suggested here. That cannabis was used as a paper fiber at that critical time in our history points to the hypocrisy of our current prohibition.

Parchment, and no.

it was written on parchment but, what you should look up that might be a little ironic is that fact that many people say america was founded on religion, citing the mayflower compact of 1620, yet in james town, in 1619 there was a law passed that forced farmers to grow hemp due to the versatility of the hemp fiber, so one could argue that america was wounded more on cannabis than religion

Parchment and I don't see how. Unless you're a vegetarian.

It was written on parchment. And yes, it does seem a bit ironic that the Sheeple should be so ignorant of its contents.

It was written on parchment paper... but drafted on hemp (old time marijuana) And this is true... I just heard it from my history teacher! ***fun fact*** Betsy Ross created the first American flag on hemp

Parchment, not iron.

Parchment....NO it's not ironic, because you didn't research the matter fully. That's common.

It is Parchment but as stated earlier the rough draft could have easily have been hemp. Yes the plant cannibis was grown in many farmlands here in the US even by Jefferson and the other founding fathers. What I find funny is how water at that time had a lot of parasites therefore what did they drink while writing these historical documents. It had to be wine and beer. Tabacco wasn't that popular back then until the British got hold of it. So we were formed on a bunch of high weed smoking drunks. Hahahaha. If you don't believe it so what, use your common sense. Most of the elite in England sniffed cocaine and they they did ok for generations.