[ Informed Resource ][ Significant Documents ]

This page contains links to a vareity of historically significant documents.

U.S. Historical Documents

Colonial Era 1519-1760

The Mayflower Compact
Agreement for the system of governance to be adopted by the Mayflower pilgrims upon landing in the New World.

Some Fruits of Solitude
by William Penn (HTML at Virginia)

Revolutionary Era

The Declaration of Independence (via the US Congress)
Adopted by the Continental Congress, July 4, 1776. Written by Thomas Jefferson.

The Articles of Confederation (via E-Text)
Precursor to the US Constitution.

Thomas Paine, The American Crisis (via the University of Kansas)
More colonial rabble-rousing by the author of Common Sense

Constitutional Era

The Constitution of the United States of America (via Cornell University Law School)
Far from a dusty historical text, the constitution is a vital, living document which serves as the highest reference for current U.S. laws.
The musical Preamble to the Constitution from ABC's School House Rock.

Notes on the State of Virginia (via Virginia Tech)
by Thomas Jefferson

1800-1860

See also Documents Regarding Slavery
A guide to historical documents regarding slaveholding in the United States.

Civil War 1860-1865

The Emancipation Proclamation (via the Library of Congress)
Issued by Abraham Lincoln, made slavery a principal focus of the Civil War.

See also Documents Regarding Slavery
A guide to historical documents regarding slaveholding in the United States.

1865-1914

The Souls of Black Folk (from Project Gutenberg)
by William E. B. Du Bois)

An Address to the Negroes in the State of New-York (from theUniversity ofVirginia)
by Jupiter Hammon

Treatites Principally Involving the United States

Arms Control

START - STrategic Arms Reduction Treaty (US-USSR, 1994-present)
destruction of nuclear weapons, conditions for verification, force levels
SALT II - Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II (US-USSR 1979-1982)
limitation on types and numbers of nuclear weapons
SALT I - Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (US-USSR 1973-present)
limitation on types and numbers of nuclear weapons

International Trade

NAFTA - North American Free Trade Agreement
(US-CANADA-MEXICO 1993-present)
reduction of tarrifs and import restrictions for products exchanged between the three signatories
GATT - General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
Principal international treaty regarding global trade issues

Other Sources of Treaty Information

The U.S. House of Representatives Internet Law Library
(Treaties and International Law Section)
Large collection of links to treaty texts and related documents.

International Historical Documents

Constitutions and Charters

The Charter of the United Nations
Enabling document which created the United Nations, signed May 1945 in San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House.
NATO Charter
Charter of the principal US-Western European military alliance
Warsaw Pact
Now defunct USSR-Eastern European military alliance

Other Sources of Historical Documents

US Historical Documents

The University of Oklahoma Law Center
A Chronology of United States Historical Documents, including all the Presidential inaugural addresses.
Mississippi State University Historical Archives (US Section)
US Collections of Mississippi State's substantial archive of historical documents.

International Historical Documents

Indiana University Law School Archives
indexof international treaties
Mississippi State University Historical Archives
A substantial archive of historical documents from around the world.

 
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This page was last updated April 2, 1996