Historical Documents

The Declaration of Independence (1776): Full Text and Image
The Articles of Confederation (1777): Full Text and Image
The Constitution of the United States (1787): Full Text and Image
The Federalist Papers (Hamilton, Jay and Madison—1787-1789): Full Text and Summary
The Anti-Federalist Papers (Letters of Brutus—1787-1788): Full Text and Summary
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857): Full Text and Summary
The Emancipation Proclamation (1863): Full Text and Commentary
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (1863): Full Text Versions and Commentary
Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address (1865):Full Text and Commentary
13th Amendment (1865): Full Text and Background
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): Full Text and Summary
President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points Speech (1918): Full Text and Commentary
19th Amendment (1920): Full Text and Commentary
FDR's Commonwealth Club Address (1932): Full Text and Analysis
Social Security Act (1935): Full Text and Background
FDR's State of the Union Address (1944): Full Text and Commentary
George Kennan's Long Telegram (1946): Full Text and Analysis
MLK's "I Have a Dream" Speech (1963): Full Text and Analysis
Civil Rights Act (1964): Full Text and History
Voting Rights Act (1965): Full Text and History
Brown v. Board of Education (1954-1955): Full Text 1954 and 1955, and Background