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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…