1. Mayflower Compact (1620) 

Founding document written by the Pilgrims on the ship, the Mayflower, as a plan for self-governance in the Plymouth Colony.  The original document was lost. A version from William Bradford’s handwritten manuscript copy in his Of Plimoth Plantation (1630-1650) is held by State Library of Massachusetts at the State House in Boston and available online at through using its search service and its DSpace Online Repository

Grades 3 and 8

2. An Act for the Better Ordering and Governing Negroes and Other Slaves in this Province (1740) Colonial Slave Codes of South Carolina, setting forth laws that refer to “the people commonly called Negroes, Indians, mulattoes and mestizos”.

U.S. History I

3. The Declaration of Independence (1776)

United States’ founding document stating the ideals of the planned democracy and the grievances against King George III. The National Archives website provides text, manuscript copy of the Constitution, historical background, and interpretive articles

Grades 3, 5, 8 

U.S. History I-II

U.S. Government and Politics

4. “An accurate map of the country round Boston in New England from the best authorities” (1776) Map of Boston and surrounding areas, with inset map of Boston and Charlestown; a political map showing the context of the Boston area at the time of the Revolution

Grades 3 and 5

5. “Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams 31 March-5 April 1776”

Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive. Massachusetts Historical Society. Correspondence during the period when Abigail managed the family farm in Braintree, Massachusetts and John served in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia; known for the line, “Remember the Ladies…”

Grade 5 

U.S. History I

6. The New Hampshire Constitution (1783)

State Constitution predating and a model for the United States Constitution

Grades 3, 5, 8

 U.S. Government and Politics

7. The Federalist, Number 10 (1787)

Essay written by James Madison to explain the dangers of factions in government. The site includes all of the 85 essays published in newspapers of the period.

Grade 8 

U.S. History I 

U.S. Government and Politics

8. The Constitution of the United States (1787)

United States founding document on the structure of government; Preamble states the ideals of United States democracy. The National Archives website provides text, manuscript copy of the Constitution, historical background, and interpretive articles

Grades 3, 5, 8

U.S. History I II 

U.S. Government and Politics 

9. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789)

Equiano was an enslaved African who later bought his freedom. His book is said to have been a factor in Parliament’s prohibition of the British slave trade in 1807.

Grade 5

U.S. History I

10. The United States Bill of Rights (1791)

The first ten Amendments; founding document on the rights of citizens. The National Archives website provides text, manuscript copy of the Bill of Rights, historical background, and interpretive articles

Grades 3, 5, 8, 

U.S. History I II

U.S. Government and Politics

11. George Washington, Farewell Address (1796) 

Washington’s warning against sectionalism, factions, and the influence of foreign governments. The Library of Congress site has the text and the handwritten manuscript

Grade 5 

U.S.  History I 

U.S. Government and Politics

12. Tecumseh, Call for Pan-Indian Resistance (1810) 

Shawnee leader Tecumseh’s call for all Native Peoples to unify in resistance to the taking of land by white people

Grade 5

U.S. History I

13. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, primary author: The Declaration of Sentiments of the Seneca Falls Conference (1848) The Declaration proposed the idea that women are the equal of men and deserve to have the same civil rights as men; it was signed by 68 women and 32 men at the Seneca Falls Conference. The National Endowment EDSITEment website has a lesson plan and a large list of associated resources

U.S. History I 

U.S. Government and Politics

14. Frederick Douglass: “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Independence Day Speech at Rochester, New York (1852) (abridged) Douglass questions the meaning of the celebration of the Declaration of Independence for African Americans. This site has links to the speech in Spanish and Haitian Creole, as well as the unabridged text in English, a timeline, and discussion questions.

U.S. History I 

U.S. Government and Politics

15. Abraham Lincoln: “Gettysburg Address” (1863)

The site gives the text of five versions of the speech Lincoln gave at the Gettysburg Battlefield and has links to other resources, including images from the period from the Library of Congress.

Grade 5 

U.S. History I 

U.S. Government and Politics

16. Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address (1865)

Lincoln’s call for unity after the end of the Civil War

U.S. History I

17. Theodore Roosevelt, “The New Nationalism” speech (1910)

The speech lays out the ideas of Progressivism.

U.S. History I 

U.S. Government and Politics

18. Parading for Progress: National Woman Suffrage Procession in Washington, DC (1913) Photographs and essays on the woman suffrage movement

Grade 5 

U.S. History I 

19. Woodrow Wilson, “Fourteen Points” speech (1918)

Wilson‘s plan for peace after the end of World War I. For more information on WWI documents and other lessons about the 1914-1917 period in U.S. history

U.S. History I 

U.S. Government and Politics

20. Franklin Roosevelt, “Four Freedoms” speech (1941)

Roosevelt’s argument for support of Britain in World War II and the freedoms that must be preserved.  The site contains draft versions of the speech.

U.S. History II and U.S. Government and Politics

21. Harry S. Truman, “Address Before the Joint Session of Congress” (The Truman Doctrine) (1947) Truman’s speech laid out the policy of the United States’ responsibility to support the freedom of people throughout the world

United States History II

22. Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka (1954)

Supreme Court decision that overturned the “separate but equal” principle in schools

United States History II

23. John F. Kennedy, “Inaugural Address” (1961)

A statement of the idea of freedom in the United States and the world. The site includes both the written text and an audio version of the speech

U.S. History II 

U.S. Government and Politics

24. Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” (1963)

The Stanford University site includes the text and audio of King’s reading of the letter

U.S. History II 

U.S. Government and Politics 

Grade5

25. Martin Luther King, Jr.,  “I Have a Dream” speech (text version) (1963) 

Audio version; video version 

Speech from the March on Washington; King’s argument for racial equality

U.S. History II 

U.S. Government and Politics 

Grade 5

26. Lyndon Johnson, “And We Shall Overcome” Special Message to Congress (1965) Speech calling for stronger civil rights legislation, resulting in the Voting Rights Act

U.S. History II 

U.S. Government and Politics 

Grade 8

27. Barack Obama, “A More Perfect Union” speech (text, video, commentary, lesson plan) (2008) A speech about race in the United States

U.S. History II