100+ Important Documents in the History of the United States

Passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, the 13th amendment abolished slavery in the United States. The 13th amendment,

Passed by Congress June 13, 1866, and ratified July 9, 1868, the 14th amendment extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to

Passed by Congress February 26, 1869, and ratified February 3, 1870, the 15th amendment granted African American men the right to vote. To former abolitionists

Passed by Congress on July 2, 1909, and ratified February 3, 1913, the 16th amendment established Congress’s right to impose a Federal income tax. Far-reaching

Passed by Congress May 13, 1912, and ratified April 8, 1913, the 17th amendment modified Article I, section 3, of the Constitution by allowing voters

Passed by Congress June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote. The 19th amendment guarantees

Yellowstone became the first Federally protected national park by the Act of Congress signed into law on March 1, 1872. In the years preceding the

Instrumental in the early stages of the Cuban missile crisis, these photographs showed that the Soviet Union was amassing offensive ballistic missiles in Cuba. President

Passed in preparation for an anticipated war with France, the Alien and Sedition Acts tightened restrictions on foreign-born Americans and limited speech critical of the

This armistice signed on July 27, 1953, formally ended the war in Korea. North and South Korea remain separate and occupy almost the same territory

On April 9, 1865, Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee met in the parlor of a house in Appomattox Court House, VA, to

On June 11, 1776, the Second Continental Congress appointed three committees in response to the Lee Resolution. One of these committees, created to determine the form

“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord: He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;

Although 12 amendments were originally proposed, the 10 that were ratified became the Bill of Rights in 1791. They defined citizens’ rights in relation to

This act authorized the construction of the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River and the All-American Canal to the Imperial Valley in California. Long before

In this milestone decision, the Supreme Court ruled that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional. It signaled the end

With this check, the United States purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. In 1866 the Russian government offered to sell the territory of Alaska

The Chinese Exclusion Act was approved on May 6, 1882. It was the first significant law restricting immigration into the United States. In the spring

The Compromise was actually a series of bills passed mainly to address issues related to slavery. The bills provided for slavery to be decided by

March 11,1861 We, the people of the Confederate States, each State acting in its sovereign and independent character, in order to form a permanent federal

Drafted in secret by delegates to the Constitutional Convention during the summer of 1787, this four-page document, signed on September 17, 1787, established the government

Approved on February 8, 1887, “An Act to Provide for the Allotment of Lands in Severalty to Indians on the Various Reservations,” known as the

This letter, written by the Spanish Ambassador to the United States, Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, criticized American President William McKinley by calling him weak and

Although the section of the Lee Resolution dealing with independence was not adopted until July 2, Congress appointed on June 10 a committee of five to draft

July 6, 1775 A declaration by the representatives of the united colonies of North America, now met in Congress at Philadelphia, setting forth the causes

In this ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court stated that slaves were not citizens of the United States and, therefore, could not expect any protection from

President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, announcing, “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious areas “are, and henceforward

This executive order of September 23, 1957, signed by President Dwight Eisenhower, sent Federal troops to maintain order and peace while the integration of Central

On March 1, 1961, President Kennedy signed this executive order establishing the Peace Corps. On September 22, 1961, Congress approved the legislation that formally authorized

In June of 1941, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, banning discriminatory employment practices by Federal agencies and all unions and companies engaged in war-related

Issued by President Franklin Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, this order authorized the evacuation of all persons deemed a threat to national security from the

One of the first acts of the new Congress was to establish a Federal court system through the Judiciary Act signed by President Washington on

The Federalist Papers were a series of essays published in newspapers in 1787 and 1788 by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay to promote

This order was issued by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower to encourage Allied soldiers taking part in the D-day invasion. Almost immediately after France fell to

Perhaps the most famous battle of the Civil War took place at Gettysburg, PA, July 1 to July 3, 1863. At the end of the

This Supreme Court decision forbade states from enacting any legislation that would interfere with Congress’s right to regulate commerce among the separate states. Robert Fulton’s

March 23, 1775By Patrick Henry No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen

Passed on May 20, 1862, the Homestead Act accelerated the settlement of the western territory by granting adult heads of families 160 acres of surveyed

Approved on February 4, 1887, the Interstate Commerce Act created an Interstate Commerce Commission to oversee the conduct of the railroad industry. With this act,

In this secret message of January 18, 1803, President Jefferson asked Congress for $2,500 to explore the West—-all the way to the Pacific Ocean. At

November 2, 1859  (American State Trials, ed. by J. D. Lawson, Vol. VI, p. 800 ff.) John Brown, most fanatical of abolitionists, planned to incite

On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson delivered this address to a joint session of Congress and called for a declaration of war against Germany.

On December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt delivered this “Day of Infamy Speech.” Immediately afterward, Congress declared

On July 7, 1898, the Hawaiian Islands were annexed by this joint resolution. In the 1890s, the efforts of the Hawaiian people to preserve their

Officially titled “An Act to Organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas,” this act repealed the Missouri Compromise, which had outlawed slavery above the 36º

This act limited the working hours of children and forbade the interstate sale of goods produced by child labor. The 1900 census revealed that approximately

Acting under the instruction of the Virginia Convention, Richard Henry Lee on June 7, 1776, introduced a resolution in the Second Continental Congress proposing independence

Passed on March 11, 1941, this act set up a system that would allow the United States to lend or lease war supplies to any

June 16, 1858, at the Illinois Republican convention Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention: If we could first know where we are and whither

In this transaction with France, signed on April 30, 1803, the United States purchased 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for

This notebook records an experiment of the Manhattan Project, the all-out, but highly secret, effort of the Federal Government to build an atomic bomb during

The decision in this Supreme Court Case established the right of the courts to determine the constitutionality of the actions of the other two branches

On April 3, 1948, President Truman signed the Economic Recovery Act of 1948. It became known as the Marshall Plan, named for Secretary of State

This Supreme Court Case addressed the issue of Federal power and commerce. In the landmark Supreme Court case McCulloch v. Maryland, Chief Justice John Marshall handed

On July 12, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln into law Public Resolution 82, a historic legislation that laid the groundwork for the creation of the Navy

This legislation admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a non-slave state at the same time, so as not to upset the balance

Passed on July 2, 1862, this act made it possible for new western states to establish colleges for their citizens. The new land-grant institutions, which

Buffalo [N.Y.]  July 31, 1863 Excellent Sir   My good friend says I must write to you and she will send it   My son went in the 54th regiment.  I

On June 16, 1933, this act established the National Recovery Administration, which supervised fair trade codes and guaranteed laborers a right to collective bargaining. The

This act authorized the building of highways throughout the nation, which would be the biggest public works project in the nation’s history. Popularly known as

Also known as the Wagner Act, this bill was signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt on July 5, 1935. It established the National Labor

The Great Seal of the United States is the symbol of our sovereignty as a nation. Its obverse is used on official documents to authenticate

This act, passed on July 1, 1862, provided Federal subsidies in land and loans for the construction of a transcontinental railroad across the United States.

Designed to separate cotton fiber from seed, Whitney’s cotton gin, for which he received a patent on March 14, 1794, introduced a new, profitable technology

Approved on January 16, 1883, the Pendleton Act established a merit-based system of selecting government officials and supervising their work. Following the assassination of President

Approved on May 22, 1903, the Platt Amendment was a treaty between the U.S. and Cuba that attempted to protect Cuba’s independence from foreign intervention.

The ruling in this Supreme Court case upheld a Louisiana state law that allowed for “equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races.”

On March 4, 1865, in his second inaugural address, President Abraham Lincoln spoke of mutual forgiveness, North and South, asserting that the true mettle of

On December 6, 1830, in a message to Congress, President Andrew Jackson called for the relocation of eastern Native American tribes to land west of

On January 17, 1961, in this farewell address, President Dwight Eisenhower warned against the establishment of a “military-industrial complex.” In a speech of less than

This speech delivered by President Franklin Roosevelt on January 6, 1941, became known as his “Four Freedoms Speech,” due to a short closing portion describing

In this radio address, President Franklin Roosevelt announced a second set of measures to combat the Great Depression, which become known as the Second New

In his farewell Presidential address, George Washington advised American citizens to view themselves as a cohesive unit and avoid political parties and issued a special

Although not required by the Constitution, George Washington presented the first Presidential inaugural address on April 30, 1789. On April 16, 1789, two days after

On January 20, 1961, President John F. Kennedy delivered his inaugural address in which he announced that “we shall pay any price, bear any burden,

In this January 8, 1918, address to Congress, President Woodrow Wilson proposed a 14-point program for world peace. These points were later taken as the

The members of this Congress, sincerely devoted, with the warmest sentiments of affection and duty to His Majesty’s Person and Government, inviolably attached to the

On December 2, 1954, the Senate voted to censure Senator Joseph McCarthy, who had led the fight in Congress to root out suspected Communists from

Fort Wagner, South Carolina July 18, 1863 Perhaps you’ve seen the movie “Glory”–an epic based on the true exploits of black soldiers during the Civil

Signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 22, 1944, this act, also known as the GI Bill, provided veterans of the Second

Approved July 2, 1890, The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was the first Federal act that outlawed monopolistic business practices. The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was

On August 14, 1935, the Social Security Act established a system of old-age benefits for workers, benefits for victims of industrial accidents, unemployment insurance, aid

This act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 30, 1965, in Independence, MO. It established Medicare, a health insurance program for

This instrument of surrender was signed on May 7, 1945, at Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s headquarters in Rheims by Gen. Alfred Jodl, Chief of Staff

Aboard the USS Missouri, this instrument of surrender was signed on September 2, 1945, by the Japanese envoys Foreign Minister Mamora Shigemitsu and Gen. Yoshijiro Umezu.

Lyrics: The original version was purely instrumental, but there have been several later lyrics added. The first, written by Horace Lorenzo Trim, is shown below:

The first engagement of the Civil War took place at Fort Sumter on April 12 and 13, 1861. After 34 hours of fighting, the Union

This act of May 18, 1933, created the Tennessee Valley Authority to oversee the construction of dams to control flooding, improve navigation, and create cheap

On August 5, 1963, the Limited Test Ban Treaty was signed by the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union. After Senate approval, the

The First Thanksgiving Proclamation June 20, 1676 Charlestown, Massachusetts “The Holy God having by a long and Continual Series of his Afflictive dispensations in and

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation. Whereas it is

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings

by the Continental Congress: the first national Thanksgiving proclamation IN CONGRESS – November 1, 1777 FORASMUCH as it is the indispensable Duty of all Men

December 4, 1833 1. CONSTITUTION OF THE AMERICAN ANTI SLAVERY SOCIETY Whereas the Most High God “hath made of one blood all nations of men

William Tyler Page, of Friendship Heights, Maryland, gave to the citizens of his country, The American’s Creed. Mr. Page described it as “a summing up,

The Crittenden Compromise was perhaps the last-ditch effort to resolve the secession crisis of 1860-61 by political negotiation. Authored by Kentucky Senator John Crittenden (whose

Section 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the persons who

The Monroe Doctrine was articulated in President James Monroe’s seventh annual message to Congress on December 2, 1823. The European powers, according to Monroe, were

Officially titled An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States North-West of the River Ohio, the Northwest Ordinance was passed on

The Pledge of Allegiance was written in August 1892 by the socialist minister Francis Bellamy (1855-1931). It was originally published in The Youth’s Companion on September 8,

On September 14, 1814, U.S. soldiers at Baltimore’s Fort McHenry raised a huge American flag to celebrate a crucial victory over British forces during the

In his annual messages to Congress in 1904 and 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt expanded the Monroe Doctrine. The corollary stated that not only were the

On January 27, 1880, Thomas Edison received the historic patent embodying the principles of his incandescent lamp that paved the way for the universal domestic

This joint resolution of Congress (H.J. RES 1145) dated August 7, 1964, gave President Lyndon Johnson authority to increase U.S. involvement in the war between

John Glenn conducted the first manned space orbit of the earth on February 20, 1962. This is the transcription of his in-flight communication with Mission

Believing that they would benefit militarily by allying themselves with a powerful nation, the revolutionary colonies formed an alliance with France against Great Britain. According

In this treaty, signed on April 29, 1868, between the U.S. Government and the Sioux Nation, the United States recognized the Black Hills as part

This treaty, signed on December 24, 1814, ended the War of 1812, fought between Great Britain and the United States. For the early decades of

This treaty, signed on February 2, 1848, ended the war between the United States and Mexico. By its terms, Mexico ceded 55 percent of its

The American War for Independence (1775-83) was actually a world conflict, involving not only the United States and Great Britain but also France, Spain, and

On March 12, 1947, President Harry S. Truman presented this address before a joint session of Congress. His message, known as the Truman Doctrine, asked

December 11, 1941 The President’s Message To the Congress of the United States: On the morning of Dec. 11 the Government of Germany, pursuing its

On June 26, 1945, in San Francisco, the United Nations was established. Article 111 of its charter indicated that “The present Charter, of which the

Drafted by James Madison, and presented by Edmund Randolph to the Constitutional Convention on May 29, 1787, the Virginia Plan proposed a strong central government

This act was signed into law on August 6, 1965, by President Lyndon Johnson. It outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states

At the end of the Civil War, this bill created a framework for Reconstruction and the re-admittance of the Confederate states to the Union. In

The War Department issued General Order 143 on May 22, 1863, creating the United States Colored Troops. By the end of the Civil War, roughly

This telegram, written by German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmermann, is a coded message sent to Mexico, proposing a military alliance against the United States. The