Category: Important Documents
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Magna Carta’s Influence on U.S. Constitution
The Magna Carta, born out of a conflict between King John of England and his barons in 1215, laid the groundwork for principles that continue to shape modern governance. Understanding its historical context and enduring influence helps us appreciate the foundational ideas that underpin our constitutional republic. Historical Context of Magna Carta King John of…
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Federalist Papers and the Constitution
During the late 1780s, the United States faced significant challenges with its initial governing framework, the Articles of Confederation. These issues prompted the creation of the Federalist Papers, a series of essays aimed at advocating for a stronger central government under the newly proposed Constitution. This article will examine the purpose, key arguments, and lasting…
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Top Founding Era Writings
1. Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, articulates the colonies' reasons for seeking independence from Great Britain. Jefferson presents the philosophical foundation that all men are created equal, endowed with inalienable rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The document is notable for its concise…
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The Articles of Confederation – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
Also see the Constitutional Topics Page for this document, a comparison of the Articles and the Constitution, and a table with demographic data for the signers of the Articles. Images of the Articles are available. Contents Preamble Article I – Style Article II – States Rights Article III – Mutual defense Article IV – Laws…
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The Report of the Annapolis Conference – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Report of the Annapolis Conference In September 1786, a conference was called in Annapolis, Maryland to discuss the state of commerce in the fledgling nation. The national government had no authority to regulate trade between and among the states. The conference was called to discuss ways to facilitate commerce and establish standard rules and…
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The Albany Plan – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Albany Plan In late 1753, the London Board of Trade wrote to New York Governor James DeLancey. The Board supervised provincial affairs in the Americas. It was concerned about the French courting of the Iroquois (the Six Nations) and with the actions of some colonies which were antagonizing the Indians. Fearing that the Indians…
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The Administration of Justice Act – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Administration of Justice Act Advertisement Worried by the courts that convened in America and in Massachusetts in particular, and their bias toward the colonists over their British governors, on May 20, 1774, the Parliament passed the Administration of Justice Act. It provided that the governor of Massachusetts had the authority to remove any trial…
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James Wilson’s 4th of July Address – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
James Wilson’s 4th of July Address James Wilson came to America from Scotland in 1765 and quickly learned the law and began to practice in Pennsylvania. By the time of the Revolution, he was well-known and trusted, and was elected to represent Pennsylvania in the Continental Congress. After the Revolution, he increased his personal wealth…
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The Virginia Declaration of Rights – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Virginia Declaration of Rights Advertisement After the Committee of Style finished with the final draft of the Constitution at the Constitutional Convention, George Mason stood up and noted that the new Constitution contained no declaration of the rights of the people, a glaring error in his view. Elbridge Gerry seconded Mason’s motion to convene…
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Virginia Joint Resolution 728 – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
Virginia Joint Resolution 728 Advertisement In the 1850 census, Virginia listed 472,528 slaves within its borders, the most of any state in the United States. Slavery was the backbone of the state’s economy, as it was in most of the other Southern agrarian states, states that would eventually split off from the Unites States to…
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Treaty Between the United States and Tripoli – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
Treaty Between the United States and Tripoli It is not often that an obscure treaty from the late 18th century becomes a touch point in a 21st century philosophical debate, but such is the case with the 1796 treaty between the United States and Tripoli. At issue is not the treaty itself — it exists…
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Letter of Transmittal – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
Letter of Transmittal The Convention, upon completing its work on the Constitution, wrote a letter to the Congress. The letter, known as The Letter of Transmittal, laid out for Congress that which the Convention felt should happen next: that the Constitution should be presented to the states and that each state should ratify the Constitution…
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Issue Guide for “The Court” – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
Issue Guide for “The Court” Advertisement Note: As of the third episode, The Court has been placed on hiatus. The Issue Guide will be updated if any further episodes air. The Court is a television show that airs on the ABC television network. It began airing in March, 2002. This page is not an episode…
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The Declaration of Rights (Stamp Act) – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Declaration of Rights (Stamp Act) Advertisement In 1764, the British Parliament passed the Sugar Act, which placed tariffs on sugar, coffee, and other goods imported into the New World. These taxes increased the burden on ordinary citizens at a time of recession in America. It was thought that the Sugar Act would give rise…
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The Declaration of Sentiments – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Declaration of Sentiments In 1840, Lucretia Mott attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London, England. Mott, a Quaker minister, was a strong abolitionist. She and the Hicksite Quakers refused to use materials produced with slave labor, including cotton and cane sugar. She worked as a teacher and at her school, met her husband, James…
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The Quebec Act – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Quebec Act Following the British victory over France in the Seven Years’ War, the territories of France in northern North America, known as Canada, were granted to Britain in the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The British renamed the territory Quebec. The British Parliament passed the Quebec Act on October 7, 1774, in an…
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The Quartering Act – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Quartering Act Advertisement In 1765, Parliament passed a quartering act that stated that British troops in America would be housed in barracks and in public houses unless and until the number of troops overwhelmed the facilities, at which time, the troops could be housed in private commercial property, such as inns and stables, and…
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Washington’s Letter – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
Washington’s Letter In addition to the official Letter of Transmittal that accompanied the freshly signed Constitution, the President of the Convention, George Washington, wrote his own personal letter to the President of Congress, Arthur St. Clair. The text of this letter can be found in the The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787 (Farrand’s…
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List of Presidential Vetoes – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
List of Presidential Vetoes The Senate Library maintains a list of all bills vetoed by presidents over time. This list is published from time to time. The source for the information presented on this page was published in three documents, Presidential Vetoes, 1789 – 1988, Presidential Vetoes, 1989 – 2000, and Vetoes by President George…
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Message Board Posting Tips – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
Message Board Posting Tips Advertisement The USConstitution.net messaging system uses the YaBB system for posting messages and replies. The YaBB system is used throughout the Internet and may already be familiar to many users. This document will offer some tips for posting, both from a technical and a social point of view. The social tips…
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The Pledge of Allegiance – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Pledge of Allegiance Advertisement The Pledge of Allegiance was first published for Columbus Day, on September 8, 1892, in the Boston magazine The Youth’s Companion. It was written by a member of the magazine’s staff, Francis Bellamy. The publication of the Pledge, and its wide redistribution to schools in pamphlet form later that year…
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The Virginia Plan – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Virginia Plan Advertisement The Constitutional Convention was tasked with proposing amendments to the Articles of Confederation which would make it a more workable plan for national government. Though the final product of the Convention was a replacement for the Articles, the first proposal was presented as a series of changes to the Articles. The…
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Charles Pinckney’s Plan – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
Charles Pinckney’s Plan Advertisement The Constitutional Convention was tasked with proposing amendments to the Articles of Confederation which would make it a more workable plan for national government. James Madison, largely regarded as the Father of the Constitution, came to the Convention with a list of changes he wanted to see discussed and implemented, a…
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The New Jersey Plan – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The New Jersey Plan Advertisement The Constitutional Convention was tasked with proposing amendments to the Articles of Confederation which would make it a more workable plan for national government. The Convention began with the text of the Virginia Plan and Charles Pinckney’s notes before them, and for three weeks, the provisions were debated. The smaller…
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The British Plan – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The British Plan Advertisement The Constitutional Convention was tasked with proposing amendments to the Articles of Confederation which would make it a more workable plan for national government. The Convention began with the text of the Virginia Plan and Charles Pinckney’s notes. New Jersey and the smaller states of the union, determined not to be…
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The Treaty of Paris – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Treaty of Paris The American Revolutionary War began in April of 1775, and though the outcome was never certain, the Americans had the force of will to carry them through the conflict. That, and the skill and good luck of the American military commanders. In 1781, the Continental Army, under the command of General…
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Other Historical American Documents – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
Other Historical American Documents It is not my intention to become a repository for a grand collection of historical American documents. There are other sites that have a large collection and the resources to nurture such a project. However, there are some very important documents that are related to the Constitution in much the same…
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Other Constitutions and Constitutional Resources – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
Other Constitutions and Constitutional Resources Advertisement The Constitution is presented in several formats on this site: As one large, HTML-enhanced document As a series of pages, one for each section and amendment In plain-text In Palm DOC format In enhanced TealDoc Palm DOC format PalmPilot users – Recommended readers: AportisDoc or TealDoc!. Below are links…
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Barack Obama’s Keynote Speech – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
Barack Obama’s Keynote Speech The 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston had one main purpose: to nominate Senator John Kerry to be the Democratic candidate for president. The party called on all speakers to tone down anti-George Bush rhetoric, hoping to prevent the party from being portrayed as just an opposition party. Many pundits felt…
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The Miranda Warning – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Miranda Warning Advertisement The Constitution reserves many rights for those suspected of crime. One of the fears of the Framers was that the government could act however it wished by simply saying an individual was a suspected criminal. Many of the rights in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, such as habeas corpus,…
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The Mayflower Compact – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Mayflower Compact stories of survival, of relations with American Indians, of the first Thanksgiving, and of religious freedom found, are the stuff of American legend. One of the cornerstones of the Pilgrim ethos is the Mayflower Compact. The Pilgrims were a small group of people bound by common religious beliefs. They did not believe…
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The Massachusetts Government Act – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Massachusetts Government Act When Massachusetts was first chartered, a council of inhabitants was formed, the 28 members of which were to be chosen annually by the people of the colony. This bit of democratic representation was unique among the many colonies, and it was a right the people took seriously and enjoyed, given the…
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The Magna Carta – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Magna Carta Advertisement Of all the documents that make up the ancestry of the Constitution, one of the oldest is the Magna Carta (also known as the Magna Charta or the Great Charter). It was created in 1215 in England. It was an agreement between King John and the nobility of the day. The…
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Madison’s Introduction of the Bill of Rights – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
Madison’s Introduction of the Bill of Rights James Madison, is considered by many to be the father of the Constitution, and not without good reason. What is perhaps less well known is his role in the Bill of Rights, too. During the Convention, the delegates were mostly set against the inclusion of a bill of…
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Richard Henry Lee’s Independence Resolution – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
Richard Henry Lee’s Independence Resolution In the spring and early summer of 1776, war with Britain looked more and more likely. There had already been battles, but many of the leaders of the colonies felt that reconciliation with the Crown was still possible. But things deteriorated rapidly. King George sent Hessian troops to America, a…
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Jefferson’s Wall of Separation Letter – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
Jefferson’s Wall of Separation Letter Thomas Jefferson was a man of deep religious conviction — his conviction was that religion was a very personal matter, one which the government had no business getting involved in. He was vilified by his political opponents for his role in the passage of the 1786 Virginia Statute for Religious…
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The Declaration of Rights and Grievances – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Declaration of Rights and Grievances In March, 1774, the British Parliament passed a series of laws they referred to as the Coercive Acts. The Americans called them the Intolerable Acts. The Acts were primarily designed to punish the colony of Massachusetts for defying British policies; specifically, for the Boston Tea Party. Outrage in the…
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The Gettysburg Address – Page 2 – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Gettysburg Address – Page 2 The Gettysburg Address, Page 2 More images
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The Gettysburg Address – Page 1 – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Gettysburg Address – Page 1 The Gettysburg Address, Page 1 More images
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The Emancipation Proclamation – Page 5 – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Emancipation Proclamation – Page 5 The Emancipation Proclamation, Page 5 More images
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The Emancipation Proclamation – Page 4 – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Emancipation Proclamation – Page 4 The Emancipation Proclamation, Page 4 More images
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The Emancipation Proclamation – Page 3 – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Emancipation Proclamation – Page 3 The Emancipation Proclamation, Page 3 More images
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The Emancipation Proclamation – Page 2 – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Emancipation Proclamation – Page 2 The Emancipation Proclamation, Page 2 More images
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The Emancipation Proclamation – Page 1 – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Emancipation Proclamation – Page 1 The Emancipation Proclamation, Page 1 More images
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The Declaration of Independence – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence More images
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The Report of the Hartford Convention – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Report of the Hartford Convention As Britain and France battled each other in the early 1800’s, enterprising Americans wanted to take advantage of the war by transporting goods for both sides, across each nation’s blockade lines. The violation of the lines angered both governments, but Britain most of all. In a move widely hated…
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The Gettysburg Address – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Gettysburg Address For three days in July 1863, Union and Confederate forces fought fierce battles at and near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Union turned back one of the last major thrusts of the Confederate troops toward the North. Many consider it the turning point in the war; after Gettysburg, the South had to fight a…
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The Fugitive Slave Act – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Fugitive Slave Act Advertisement The Compromise of 1850 was introduced to stave off conflict between the slave states and the free states upon the admission of California as a state. Under the Compromise, California was admitted as a free state, New Mexico and Utah were organized as slave territories, and Texas had its boundaries…
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Benjamin Franklin’s Articles of Confederation – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
Benjamin Franklin’s Articles of Confederation Benjamin Franklin had long been a proponent of self-government and independence for the colonies of North America. In 1754, he had penned The Albany Plan for uniting the colonies, but the rest of the people were not ready at the time. He waited. The Second Continental Congress convened on May…
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Speech of Benjamin Franklin – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
Speech of Benjamin Franklin Advertisement Monday, September 17, 1787, was the last day of the Constitutional Convention. Pennsylvania delegate Benjamin Franklin, one of the few Americans of the time with international repute, wanted to give a short speech to the Convention prior to the signing of the final draft of the Constitution. Too weak to…
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The Emancipation Proclamation – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Emancipation Proclamation During the course of the Civil War, Lincoln had wanted to declare all slaves free. He waited, however, until the Union forces had some decisive victories over the Rebels; no doubt his holding off was to prevent giving the South a rallying point until one would have no effect on the outcome…
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The I Have a Dream Speech – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The I Have a Dream Speech Advertisement In 1950’s America, the equality of man envisioned by the Declaration of Independence was far from a reality. People of color — blacks, Hispanics, Asians — were discriminated against in many ways, both overt and covert. The 1950’s were a turbulent time in America, when racial barriers began…
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September 12 Draft of the Constitution – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
September 12 Draft of the Constitution Advertisement On Saturday, September 8, 1787, the Constitutional Convention appointed members to the Committee of Style and Arrangement. The Committee was tasked with taking the August 6 draft and editing it to include all points decided by the Convention, and to polish the document into something to be presented…
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August 6 Draft of the Constitution – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
August 6 Draft of the Constitution Advertisement On Tuesday, July 24, 1787, the Constitutional Convention appointed members to the Committee of Detail. The Committee was tasked with taking all of the points debated by the Convention up to that point and constructing a document that could be used as a basis for further debate. The…
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The Declaration of Independence – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence Topic Page may be of some interest to readers. Demographic data about the Signers is also available. An image of the Declaration is available. Contents Introduction Crimes of the King Conclusion Signatories In Congress, July 4, 1776 The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America…
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Constitution of the Confederate States of America – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
Constitution of the Confederate States of America Advertisement The following is the complete text of the Constitution of the Confederate States of America, as adopted on March 11, 1861. The text of the CSA Constitution was verified at the University of Oklahoma and the Library of Congress and was marked up for Web display by…
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The American’s Creed – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The American’s Creed The American’s Creed was written in 1917 by William Tyler Page, an employee in the House. The Creed was one of 3000 entries in a contest sponsored by the New York Commissioner of Education. In 1919, Page was elected Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. When the majority party in the…
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Constitution of the People’s Republic of China – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
Constitution of the People’s Republic of China Advertisement The following is the complete text of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, as adopted on December 4, 1982. The electronic text was acquired from the The Wiretap Electronic Text Archive and was marked up for Web display by Steve Mount. If you are aware…
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The Boston Port Act – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
The Boston Port Act Advertisement In 1773, the British Parliament passed the Tea Act, which allowed theBritish East India Company to sell tea in America without any duty. The act waspartially passed because the East India Company’s imports of tea into Americahad declined sharply during the prior decade because of American boycotts. After the passage…
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The Administration of Justice Act
Advertisement Worried by the courts that convened in America and in Massachusetts in particular, and their bias toward the colonists over their British governors, on May 20, 1774, the Parliament passed the Administration of Justice Act. It provided that the governor of Massachusetts had the authority to remove any trial proceeding to another colony or…