Great Issues in American History

Volume 1, From Settlement to Revolution, 1584-1776

Part 1: The Colonizing Impulse

  1. Adam Smith – “Of Colonies” from The Wealth of Nations”, 1776
  2. Christoper Columbus – Letter to the King and Queen of Spain, c. 1494
  3. Samuel de Champlain – Voyages, 1604
  4. Richard Hakluyt – Discourse of Western Planting, 1584
  5. Instructions for the Virginia Colony, 1606
  6. Letters from Don Pedro de Zuniga, the Spanish Ambassador to England, to the King of Spain, 1607
  7. William Bradford – Of Plymouth Plantation, 1630-1650
  8. Disagreements With the Virginia Company, 1623
  9. John White – The Planters’ Plea, 1630
  10. Complaints Against New England, 1632-1638
  11. The King Overrides Virginia’s Objections to the Grant Given Lord Baltimore, 1629-1633

Part 2: The Establishment of Self-Government

  1. The Third Virginia Charter, 1612
  2. An Ordinance and Constitution of the Virginia Company in England for a Council of State and General Assembly, 24 July 1621
  3. The Mayflower Compact, 11 November, 1630
  4. Charter of Massachusetts Bay, 1629
  5. Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 14 January 1638
  6. The Early Establishment of Local Government: County, Town, Legal System, Seventeenth Century
  7. Robert Beverley on Bacon’s Rebellion, 1704
  8. Governor William Berkeley on Bacon’s Rebellion, 19 May 1676
  9. Bacon’s Declaration in the Name of the People, 30 July 1676
  10. Royal Commission in Virginia on Bacon’s Rebellion, 27 February 1677
  11. Massachusetts Bay Asserts Its Right to Govern, 10 June 1661
  12. Edward Randolph Condemns Massachusetts Bay Before the Lords of Trade, 12 June 1683
  13. The Glorious Revolution in New England, 18 April 1689
  14. John Wise, Vindication of the Government of the New England Churches, 1717

Part 3: The Economic Regulation of the Empire

  1. Josiah Child – A New Discourse of Trade (undated)
  2. John Bland, Remonstrance Against the Enumeration Act, 1661
  3. A Short Answer to an Elaborate Pamphlet Entitled “The Importance of Sugar Plantations”, 1731
  4. Joshua Gee – The Trade and Navigation of Great Britain Considered, 1729
  5. Reasons Offered Against Encouraging Making Iron in America, c. 1750
  6. Reasons for Making Bar, As Well As Pig or Sow-Iron in His Majesty’s Plantations, c. 1750
  7. Reason Against a General Prohibition of the Iron Manufacture in His Majesty’s Plantations, c. 1750
  8. Benjamin Franklin, A Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of Paper Currency, 1729
  9. Dr. William Douglass – A Discourse Concerning the Currencies of the British Plantations in America, 1740
  10. Petition of the Merchants of London to Parliament, 1751
  11. Adam Smith, “Conclusion of the Mercantile System” from The Wealth of Nations, 1776

Part 4: The Politics of Internal Controversy

  1. John Cotton – Certain Proposals Made by Lord Say, Lord Brooke, and Other Persons of Quality, as Conditions of Their Removing to New England, with Answers Thereto, 1636
  2. Roger Williams – The Bloody Tenet, 1644 // Yet More Bloody, 1650
  3. Nathaniel Ward – The Simple Cobler of Aggawam in America, 1647
  4. Maryland Toleration Act, 1649
  5. Samuel Davies, Letter to Reverend Doctor Doddridge, 2 October 1750
  6. Connecticut’s Act to Regular Abuses and to Correct Disorders in Ecclesiastical Affairs
  7. A Memorial of Several Aggrievances and Oppressions of His Majesty’s Subjects in the Colony of New York in America, c. 1750
  8. A Petition from Inhabitants of Philadelphia, 14 February 1752
  9. Royal Instructions to the Governors of the Colonies Forbidding Alteration in Representation, 24 July 1767
  10. Remonstrance of John Daniell, John Yerworth, George Heskett, John Scott, and David Brown… Ship Carpenters, 25 January 1744
  11. [Anthony Benezet], Instructions Regarding Negro Slaves Issued by the Society of Friends in its Monthly Meeting, 1754
  12. Thomas Bacon’s Sermon to Negro Slaves, 1743
  13. The Secretary of Virginia Reports of Self-Regulation Without Benefit of Legislation, 8 May 1682
  14. Lieutenant-Governor Spotswood and the Internal Regulation of Tobacco, 29 December 1713
  15. Response to the Tobacco Act, 1729
  16. [Dr. William Douglass], A Letter to Merchant in London Concerning a Late Combination in the Province of Massachusetts Bay… to Impose or Force a Private-Currency Called Land-Bank Money, 21 February 1740
  17. (Anonymous), A Letter to the Merchant in London to Whom Is Directed a Printed Letter Relating to the Manufactory Undertaking, 27 February 1740
  18. The Petition of London Merchants to Parliament, 11 February 1741

Part 5: Constitutional Contest Between Colony and Crown

  1. Massachusetts House of Representatives on the Governor’s Salary, 11 September 1728
  2. Governor Burnet of Massachusetts on the Governor’s Salary, 17 September 1728
  3. The North Carolina Biennial Act, 1715
  4. Governor Gabriel Johnston’s Request to Repeal the Biennial Act, 18 October 1736
  5. Disposition of the Biennial Act 1737
  6. The Prerogatives of the Assembly in Choosing a Speak, 10 January 1748
  7. The Governor’s Prerogatives in Choosing a Speaker, 15 February 1748
  8. The Pennsylvania Assembly Opposes the Governor on Defense Measures, July 1740
  9. Governor Thomas of Pennsylvania Replies to the Assembly, 2 August 1740
  10. An Act to Impose Duties on the Importation of Slaves, 1740
  11. Malachy Postlethwayt – The Advantages of the African Trades, 1772
  12. Resolution of the Virginia House of Burgesses on Colonial Authority, 14 November 1764

Part 6: The Politics of International Rivalry

  1. Memoir for the Marquis de Seignelay Regarding the Dangers That Threaten Canada and the Means to Remedy Them, January, 1687
  2. King William of England Address Parliament on the French Question, 31 December 1701
  3. Governor Alexander Spotswood to the Board of Trade, 14 August 1718
  4. The Governors of New York and Canada Explore Their Differences, 1721
  5. Arredondo’s Proof of Spain’s Title to Georgia, 1742
  6. Introduction to the Report on General Oglethorpe’s Expedition to St. Augustine, 1741
  7. The Duke of Newcastle Addresses the House of Lords on the Spanish Question, 1738
  8. Governor Glen, The Role of the Indians in the Rivalary Between France, Spain, and England, 1761
  9. Memoir on English Aggression, October 1750
  10. Marquis de la Galissonière – Memoir on the French Colonies in North American, December 1750
  11. Goerge Washington’s Journal of a Tour over the Allegheny Mountains, 1753-1754
  12. Remarks of the British Ministry on the Letter of the King of France, January 1756
  13. Duc de Choiseul, Secret Memorandum on a Peace Settlement, 17 June 1761
  14. Peter Kalm – Travels into North America, 1748-1749
  15. French Diplomatic Correspondence on the Degree of Dissatisfaction of the North American Colonies, 1776

Part 7: Revolution and Independence

  1. Resolutions of the Stamp Act Congress, October 19, 1765
  2. Soame Jenyns – The Objections to the Taxation… consider’d, 1765
  3. Daniel Dulany, Considerations, October 1765
  4. William Pitt, Speech on the Stamp Act, January 14, 1766
  5. John Dickinson, Letters II and IV from Letters from a Marmer, 1767-1768
  6. First Continental Congress, Declaration and Resolves, October 14, 1774
  7. Daniel Leonard – Massachusettensis, January 9, 1775
  8. John Adams – Novanglus, February 6, 1775
  9. Edmund Burke – Speech on Conciliation with America, March 22, 1775
  10. Adam Smith – The Cost of Empire, 1776
  11. Second Continental Congress, Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms, July 6, 1775
  12. Thomas Paine – Common Sense, 1776
  13. Charles Inglis – The True Interest of America Impartially Stated, 1776
  14. The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 (text)

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Volume 2, From the Revolution to the Civil War, 1765-1865

Part 1: REPEAT OF VOLUME 1, PART 7

Part 2: The Constitution

  1. Massachusetts Delegates in Congress, Letter on a Constitutional Convention, September 1, 1785
  2. John Jay and George Washington on the Crisis of the 1780s , June 27 and August 1, 1786
  3. Debate in the Federal Convention, June 9 and 11, 1787
  4. The Constitution of the United States
  5. Elbridge Gerry, Letter to President of Senate and Speaker of House of Representatives of Massachusetts, October 18, 1787
  6. Thomas Jefferson – Letter to James Madison on the Constitution, December 20, 1787
  7. Debate in the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 4 and 5, 1788
  8. James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist, Number 10 and Number 15, 1787

Part 3: Federalists and Republicans

  1. Alexander Hamilton – Report on the Public Credit, January 9, 1790
  2. Virginia Resolutions on the Assumption of State Debts, December 16, 1790
  3. Thomas Jefferson – Recollections of the Hamiltonian System, February 4, 1818
  4. Thomas Jefferson – Opinion on the Constitutionality of the Bank, February 15, 1791
  5. Alexander Hamilton – Opinion on the Constitutionality of the Bank, February 23, 1791
  6. Thomas Jefferson – The Importance of Agriculture, 1784
  7. Alexander Hamilton – Report on the Subject of Manufactures, December 5, 1791
  8. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, 1798
  9. The Legislature of Rhode Island on the Virginia Resolutions, February 1799
  10. Thomas Jefferson – First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801
  11. Marbury v. Madison, 1803
  12. Thomas Jefferson on the Supreme Court, September 6, 1819

Part 4: Republican Diplomacy

  1. Robert R. Livingston – Examination of the Treaty… Between the United States and Great Britain, 1795
  2. Alexander Hamilton – Camillus, Numbers I and II, 1795
  3. George Washington – Farewell Address, September 17, 1796
  4. Thomas Jefferson to Robert R. Livingston, April 18, 1802
  5. Letters of Timothy Pickering, January 29, March 4, 1804 and January 8, 1809
  6. Debate in the House of Representatives, December 1811
  7. James Madison – War Message to Congress, June 1, 1812
  8. Report and Resolutions of the Hartford Convention, January 4, 1815
  9. John Quincy Adams – Diary, November 7, 1823
  10. James Monroe – Message to Congress, December 2, 1823

Part 5: The Jacksonian Era

  1. Debate in the New York Constitutional Convention, 1821
  2. John Quincy Adams – First Annual Message to Congress, December 6, 1825
  3. Andrew Jackson – Veto of Maysville Road Bill, May 27, 1830
  4. Henry Clay – Speech on the Maysvill Road Bill Veto, August 3, 1830
  5. Henry Clay, Speech on the Tariff, March 31, 1824
  6. The South Carolina Protest against the Tariff, December 19, 1828
  7. John C. Calhoun – Fort Hill Address, July 26, 1831
  8. Andrew Jackson – Proclamation to the People of South Carolina, December 10, 1832
  9. Resolutions of South Carolina on Jackson’s Nullification Proclamation, December 20, 1832
  10. Andrew Jackson – Bank Veto Message, July 10, 1832
  11. Daniel Webster – Speech on Jackson’s Veto of the United States Bank Bill, July 11, 1832
  12. Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge, 1837
  13. Joseph Story – Dissenting Opinion in Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge, 1837

Part 6: Slavery and Expansion

  1. Thomas R. Dew – Review of the Debate in the Virginia Legislature of 1831 and 1832, 1832
  2. William Lloyd Garrison – The Liberator, January 1, 1831
  3. Theodore Dwight Weld – Slavery As It Is, 1839
  4. Harriet Beech Stowe – Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 1852
  5. William J. Grayson – The Hireling and the Slave, 1854
  6. Henry Clay – Raleigh Letter, April 17, 1844
  7. James K. Polk – War Message to Congress, May 11, 1846
  8. Massachusetts Legislature – Resolutions on the War with Mexico, 1847
  9. Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Daniel Webster, Debate on the Compromise of 1850, February 5-March 7, 1850
  10. Appeal of the Independent Democrats, January 19, 1854
  11. Stephen A. Douglas – Speech in the Senate, January 30, 1854
  12. Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857
  13. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates, 1858

Part 7: Secession, Civil War and Emancipation

  1. South Carolina Declaration of Causes of Secession, December 24, 1860
  2. Abraham Lincoln – First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861
  3. Jefferson Davis – Message to the Confederate Congress, April 29, 1861
  4. Abraham Lincoln – Message to Congress, July 4, 1861
  5. Horace Greeley and Abraham Lincoln on Emancipation, August 19 and 22, 1862
  6. Abraham Lincoln – The Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863
  7. Abraham Lincoln – Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863
  8. Abraham Lincoln – Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1864

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Volume 3, From Reconstruction to the Present Day, 1864-1981

Part 1: Reconstruction and After

  1. Abraham Lincoln – Proclamation on the Wade-Davis Bill, July 8, 1864
  2. The Wade-Davis Manifesto, August 5, 1864
  3. Abraham Lincoln – Speech, April 11, 1865
  4. Thaddeus Stevens – Speech, December 18, 1865
  5. Report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction, June 20, 1866
  6. An Address to the Loyal Citizens and Congress of the United States of America, August 1865
  7. Wade Hampton on Reconstruction, 1866
  8. Alexander Stephens on Reconstruction, April 11, 1866
  9. Andrew Johnson, Cleveland Speech, September 3, 1866
  10. Andrew Johnson, Veto of the First Reconstruction Act, March 2, 1867
  11. Charles Sumner – Opinion on the Trial of Andrew Johnson, 1868
  12. James W. Grimes – Opinion on the Trial of Andrew Johnson, 1868
  13. Atlanta News – Meet Brute Force with Brute Force, September 10, 1874
  14. Blance K. Bruce – Speech in the Senate, March 31, 1876
  15. Slaughterhouse Cases, 1873
  16. Civil Rights Cases, 1883
  17. John Marshall Harlan – Dissenting Opinion in Civil Rights Cases, 1883
  18. Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896
  19. John Marshall Harlan – Dissenting Opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896

Part 2: Industrialism and Social Reform

  1. Henry George – Progress and Poverty, 1879
  2. Edward Bellamy – Looking Backward, 1888
  3. Andrew Carnegie – Wealth, June 1889
  4. William Graham Sumner – The Absurd Effort to Make the World Over, March 1894
  5. Henry Demarest Lloyd – Wealth against Commonwealth, 1894
  6. Samuel Gompers, Letter on Labor in Industrial Society, September 1894
  7. Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan and Trust Co. 1895
  8. John Marshall Harlan – Dissenting Opinion in Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan and Trust Co., 1895
  9. U.S. v. E.C. Knight and Co., 1895
  10. John Marshall Harlan, Dissenting Opinion in U.S. v. E.C. Knight and Co., 1895

Part 3: Agrarian Protest

  1. Resolution of a Meeting of the Illinois State Farmers’ Association, April 1873
  2. Munn v. Illinois, 1877
  3. Stephen J. Field – Dissenting Opinion in Munn v. Illinois, 1877
  4. Populist Party Platform, July 4, 1892
  5. Grover Cleveland – Message on the Repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, August 8, 1893
  6. W.H. “Coin” Harvey – Coin’s Financial School, 1894
  7. James Laurence Laughlin – Answer to “Coin” Harvey, 1895
  8. William Jennings Bryan – Cross of Gold Speech, July 8 1896
  9. William Allen White – What’s the Matter with Kansas?, August 16, 1896

Part 4: Imperialism and War

  1. Josiah Strong – Our Country, 1885
  2. Henry Cabot Lodge – Our Blundering Foreign Policy, March 1895
  3. William McKinley – War Message to Congress, April 11, 1898
  4. Walter Hines Page – The War with Spain and After, June 1898
  5. Platform of the American Anti-Imperialist League, October 17, 1899
  6. Woodrow Wilson – Appeal for Neutrality, August 19, 1914
  7. Woodrow Wilson – Peace without Victory Address, January 22, 1917
  8. Woodrow Wilson – Speech for Declaration of War against Germany, April 2, 1917
  9. George W. Norris – Speech against Declaration of War, April 4, 1917
  10. Woodrow Wilson – Speech on the Fourteen Points, January 8, 1918
  11. Woodrow Wilson – Speech on the Covenant of the League of Nations, February, 1919
  12. William E. Borah – Speech on the League of Nations, November, 19, 1919

Part 5: Progressivism

  1. Lincoln Steffens – The Shame of the Cities, 1904
  2. George Washington Plunkitt – Honest Graft, 1905
  3. Walter Lippmann – The Themes of Muckracking, 1914
  4. Lochner v. New York, 1905
  5. Oliver Wendell Holmes – Dissenting Opinion in Lochner v. New York, 1905
  6. Muller v. Oregon, 1908
  7. David Wilcox – Testimony on Railroad Reform, January 21, 1905
  8. William P. Hepburn – Speech on Railroad Reform, February 7, 1906
  9. William Allen White – The Old Order Changeth, 1910
  10. Elihu Root – Experiments in Government, 1913
  11. Theodore Roosevelt – Acceptance Speech, August 6, 1912
  12. Woodrow Wilson – The New Freedom, 1913
  13. Report of the Pjuo Committee, February 28, 1913
  14. Woodrow Wilson – First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1913

Part 6: Prosperity and Depression

  1. Hammer v. Dagenhart, 1918
  2. Oliver Wendell Holmes – Dissenting Opinion in Hammer v. Dagenhart, 1918
  3. Abrams v. U.S., 1919
  4. Oliver Wendell Holmes – Dissenting Opinion in Abrams v. U.S., 1919
  5. Hiram W. Evans – The Klan’s Fight for Americanism, 1926
  6. William Allen White – Letter on the Ku Klux Klan, September 17, 1931
  7. Progressive Party Platform, 1924
  8. Herbert Hoover – Rugged Individualism Speech, October 22, 1928
  9. Franklin D. Roosevelt – Commonwealth Club Speech, September 23, 1932
  10. Franklin D. Roosevelt – First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933
  11. Herbert Hoover – This Challenge to Liberty, October 30, 1936
  12. U.S. v. Butler et al., 1936
  13. Harlan Fiske Stone – Dissenting Opinion in U.S. v. Butler et al., 1936
  14. Franklin D. Roosevelt – Radio Address on Supreme Court Reform, March 9, 1937
  15. Report of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Supreme Court Reform, June 7, 1937

Part 7: World War II and The Post-War World

  1. Franklin D. Roosevelt – Quarantine the Aggressors Speech, October 5, 1937
  2. Franklin D. Roosevelt – Press Conference on Lend-Lease, December 17, 1940
  3. Franklin D. Roosevelt – Four Freedoms Speech, January 6, 1941
  4. Burton K. Wheeler – Speech on Lend-Lease, January 12, 1941
  5. Charles A. Lindbergh – Speech on America and the War, April 23, 1941
  6. The Atlantic Charter, August 14, 1941
  7. Franklin D. Roosevelt – War Message to Congress, December 8, 1941
  8. The Truman Doctrine, March 12, 1947
  9. George C. Marshall – The Marshall Plan, June 5, 1947
  10. George F. Kennan, The Sources of Soviet Conduct, July 1947
  11. Dean Acheson – Speech for the North Atlantic Treat, March 18, 1949
  12. Robert A. Taft – Speech against the North Atlantic Treaty, July 11, 1949
  13. Douglas MacArthur – Address to Congress, April 19, 1951
  14. Dean Acheson – Testimony on the Military Situation in the Far East, June 1, 1951
  15. John Foster Dulles – Testimony on the Policy of Liberation, January 15, 1953
  16. Lewis Mumford – Letter on American Foreign Policy, March 28, 1954
  17. Dwight D. Eisenhower – Remarks on Peaceful Co-existence, June 30, 1954

Part 8: Contemporary Challenges

A. Civil Rights

  1. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 1954
  2. Declaration of Ninety-six Southern Congressmen, March 12, 1956
  3. Martin Luther King, Jr – I Have a Dream, August 28, 1963
  4. Reynolds v. Sims, 1964
  5. John Marshall Harlan – Dissenting Opinion in Reynolds v. Sims, 1964
  6. Lyndon B. Johnson – Speech on Voting Rights, March 15, 1965
  7. Lyndon B. Johnson – Commencement Address at Howard University, June 4, 1965
  8. Report of the Commission on Civil Disorders, March 2, 1968
  9. Daniel Patrick Moynihan – Memorandum for President Nixon, January 16, 1970
  10. Abraham Ribicoff – Senate Speech on De Facto Segregation in Northern Schools, February 18, 1970
  11. Richard M. Nixon – State Paper on School Desegregation, March 24, 1970
  12. Citizen’s Advisory Council on the Status of Women – Memorandum on the Proposed Equal Rights Amendment, March 26, 1970
  13. Arizona State Senator Trudy Camping- Against ERA, 1975
  14. Fullilove v. Klutznick, 1980
  15. Potter Stewart – Dissenting Opinion in Fullilove v. Klutznick, 1980

B. The Government and the Economy

  1. John F. Kennedy – Commencement Address at Yale University, June 11, 1962
  2. Lyndon B. Johnson – The War on Poverty, March 16. 1964
  3. Barry Goldwater – Opening Campaign Speech, September 3, 1963
  4. Lyndon B. Johnson – Economic Report, January 16, 1969
  5. Declaration of Environmental Rights, 1970
  6. Richard M. Nixon – Address on the Economy, August 15, 1971
  7. House Judiciary Committee – Articles of Impeachment, August 20, 1974
  8. Gerald R. Ford – Address on the Pardon of Richard M. Nixon, September 8, 1974
  9. Jimmy Carter – Crisis of Confidence Address, July 15, 1979
  10. Debate between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, 1980, October 28, 1980: Urban decay; Energy; the role of the Federal Government and Women’s Rights

Part 9: Foreign Policy 1958-1981

  1. State Department – Policy Statement on Non-Recognition of the Chinese Communist Government, August 10, 1958
  2. Dwight D. Eisenhower – Farewell Address, January 17, 1961
  3. John F. Kennedy – Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961
  4. John F. Kennedy – Report on Soviet Missiles in Cuba, October 22, 1962
  5. John F. Kennedy – Address on the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, July 26, 1963
  6. Lyndon B. Johnson – American Policy in Vietnam, April 7, 1965
  7. J. William Fulbright – The Arrogance of Power, 1966
  8. Richard M. Nixon – Inaugural Address, January 20, 1969
  9. The United States and the People’s Republic of China – The Shanghai Communiqué, February 27, 1972
  10. Richard M. Nixon – Report on the Moscow Summit, June 1, 1972
  11. Jimmy Carter – Address on the Camp David Accords, September 18, 1978
  12. Jimmy Carter – Report to Congress on the Failed Hostage Rescue Mission to Iran, April 26, 1980
  13. Ronald Reagan – Address on Arms Control Negotiations, November 18, 1981