Great Issues in American History
Volume 1, From Settlement to Revolution, 1584-1776
Part 1: The Colonizing Impulse
- Adam Smith – “Of Colonies” from The Wealth of Nations”, 1776
- Christoper Columbus – Letter to the King and Queen of Spain, c. 1494
- Samuel de Champlain – Voyages, 1604
- Richard Hakluyt – Discourse of Western Planting, 1584
- Instructions for the Virginia Colony, 1606
- Letters from Don Pedro de Zuniga, the Spanish Ambassador to England, to the King of Spain, 1607
- William Bradford – Of Plymouth Plantation, 1630-1650
- Disagreements With the Virginia Company, 1623
- John White – The Planters’ Plea, 1630
- Complaints Against New England, 1632-1638
- The King Overrides Virginia’s Objections to the Grant Given Lord Baltimore, 1629-1633
Part 2: The Establishment of Self-Government
- The Third Virginia Charter, 1612
- An Ordinance and Constitution of the Virginia Company in England for a Council of State and General Assembly, 24 July 1621
- The Mayflower Compact, 11 November, 1630
- Charter of Massachusetts Bay, 1629
- Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 14 January 1638
- The Early Establishment of Local Government: County, Town, Legal System, Seventeenth Century
- Robert Beverley on Bacon’s Rebellion, 1704
- Governor William Berkeley on Bacon’s Rebellion, 19 May 1676
- Bacon’s Declaration in the Name of the People, 30 July 1676
- Royal Commission in Virginia on Bacon’s Rebellion, 27 February 1677
- Massachusetts Bay Asserts Its Right to Govern, 10 June 1661
- Edward Randolph Condemns Massachusetts Bay Before the Lords of Trade, 12 June 1683
- The Glorious Revolution in New England, 18 April 1689
- John Wise, Vindication of the Government of the New England Churches, 1717
Part 3: The Economic Regulation of the Empire
- Josiah Child – A New Discourse of Trade (undated)
- John Bland, Remonstrance Against the Enumeration Act, 1661
- A Short Answer to an Elaborate Pamphlet Entitled “The Importance of Sugar Plantations”, 1731
- Joshua Gee – The Trade and Navigation of Great Britain Considered, 1729
- Reasons Offered Against Encouraging Making Iron in America, c. 1750
- Reasons for Making Bar, As Well As Pig or Sow-Iron in His Majesty’s Plantations, c. 1750
- Reason Against a General Prohibition of the Iron Manufacture in His Majesty’s Plantations, c. 1750
- Benjamin Franklin, A Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of Paper Currency, 1729
- Dr. William Douglass – A Discourse Concerning the Currencies of the British Plantations in America, 1740
- Petition of the Merchants of London to Parliament, 1751
- Adam Smith, “Conclusion of the Mercantile System” from The Wealth of Nations, 1776
Part 4: The Politics of Internal Controversy
- 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
- Roger Williams – The Bloody Tenet, 1644 // Yet More Bloody, 1650
- Nathaniel Ward – The Simple Cobler of Aggawam in America, 1647
- Maryland Toleration Act, 1649
- Samuel Davies, Letter to Reverend Doctor Doddridge, 2 October 1750
- Connecticut’s Act to Regular Abuses and to Correct Disorders in Ecclesiastical Affairs
- A Memorial of Several Aggrievances and Oppressions of His Majesty’s Subjects in the Colony of New York in America, c. 1750
- A Petition from Inhabitants of Philadelphia, 14 February 1752
- Royal Instructions to the Governors of the Colonies Forbidding Alteration in Representation, 24 July 1767
- Remonstrance of John Daniell, John Yerworth, George Heskett, John Scott, and David Brown… Ship Carpenters, 25 January 1744
- [Anthony Benezet], Instructions Regarding Negro Slaves Issued by the Society of Friends in its Monthly Meeting, 1754
- Thomas Bacon’s Sermon to Negro Slaves, 1743
- The Secretary of Virginia Reports of Self-Regulation Without Benefit of Legislation, 8 May 1682
- Lieutenant-Governor Spotswood and the Internal Regulation of Tobacco, 29 December 1713
- Response to the Tobacco Act, 1729
- [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
- (Anonymous), A Letter to the Merchant in London to Whom Is Directed a Printed Letter Relating to the Manufactory Undertaking, 27 February 1740
- The Petition of London Merchants to Parliament, 11 February 1741
Part 5: Constitutional Contest Between Colony and Crown
- Massachusetts House of Representatives on the Governor’s Salary, 11 September 1728
- Governor Burnet of Massachusetts on the Governor’s Salary, 17 September 1728
- The North Carolina Biennial Act, 1715
- Governor Gabriel Johnston’s Request to Repeal the Biennial Act, 18 October 1736
- Disposition of the Biennial Act 1737
- The Prerogatives of the Assembly in Choosing a Speak, 10 January 1748
- The Governor’s Prerogatives in Choosing a Speaker, 15 February 1748
- The Pennsylvania Assembly Opposes the Governor on Defense Measures, July 1740
- Governor Thomas of Pennsylvania Replies to the Assembly, 2 August 1740
- An Act to Impose Duties on the Importation of Slaves, 1740
- Malachy Postlethwayt – The Advantages of the African Trades, 1772
- Resolution of the Virginia House of Burgesses on Colonial Authority, 14 November 1764
Part 6: The Politics of International Rivalry
- Memoir for the Marquis de Seignelay Regarding the Dangers That Threaten Canada and the Means to Remedy Them, January, 1687
- King William of England Address Parliament on the French Question, 31 December 1701
- Governor Alexander Spotswood to the Board of Trade, 14 August 1718
- The Governors of New York and Canada Explore Their Differences, 1721
- Arredondo’s Proof of Spain’s Title to Georgia, 1742
- Introduction to the Report on General Oglethorpe’s Expedition to St. Augustine, 1741
- The Duke of Newcastle Addresses the House of Lords on the Spanish Question, 1738
- Governor Glen, The Role of the Indians in the Rivalary Between France, Spain, and England, 1761
- Memoir on English Aggression, October 1750
- Marquis de la Galissonière – Memoir on the French Colonies in North American, December 1750
- Goerge Washington’s Journal of a Tour over the Allegheny Mountains, 1753-1754
- Remarks of the British Ministry on the Letter of the King of France, January 1756
- Duc de Choiseul, Secret Memorandum on a Peace Settlement, 17 June 1761
- Peter Kalm – Travels into North America, 1748-1749
- French Diplomatic Correspondence on the Degree of Dissatisfaction of the North American Colonies, 1776
Part 7: Revolution and Independence
- Resolutions of the Stamp Act Congress, October 19, 1765
- Soame Jenyns – The Objections to the Taxation… consider’d, 1765
- Daniel Dulany, Considerations, October 1765
- William Pitt, Speech on the Stamp Act, January 14, 1766
- John Dickinson, Letters II and IV from Letters from a Marmer, 1767-1768
- First Continental Congress, Declaration and Resolves, October 14, 1774
- Daniel Leonard – Massachusettensis, January 9, 1775
- John Adams – Novanglus, February 6, 1775
- Edmund Burke – Speech on Conciliation with America, March 22, 1775
- Adam Smith – The Cost of Empire, 1776
- Second Continental Congress, Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms, July 6, 1775
- Thomas Paine – Common Sense, 1776
- Charles Inglis – The True Interest of America Impartially Stated, 1776
- 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
- Massachusetts Delegates in Congress, Letter on a Constitutional Convention, September 1, 1785
- John Jay and George Washington on the Crisis of the 1780s , June 27 and August 1, 1786
- Debate in the Federal Convention, June 9 and 11, 1787
- The Constitution of the United States
- Elbridge Gerry, Letter to President of Senate and Speaker of House of Representatives of Massachusetts, October 18, 1787
- Thomas Jefferson – Letter to James Madison on the Constitution, December 20, 1787
- Debate in the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 4 and 5, 1788
- James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist, Number 10 and Number 15, 1787
Part 3: Federalists and Republicans
- Alexander Hamilton – Report on the Public Credit, January 9, 1790
- Virginia Resolutions on the Assumption of State Debts, December 16, 1790
- Thomas Jefferson – Recollections of the Hamiltonian System, February 4, 1818
- Thomas Jefferson – Opinion on the Constitutionality of the Bank, February 15, 1791
- Alexander Hamilton – Opinion on the Constitutionality of the Bank, February 23, 1791
- Thomas Jefferson – The Importance of Agriculture, 1784
- Alexander Hamilton – Report on the Subject of Manufactures, December 5, 1791
- Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, 1798
- The Legislature of Rhode Island on the Virginia Resolutions, February 1799
- Thomas Jefferson – First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801
- Marbury v. Madison, 1803
- Thomas Jefferson on the Supreme Court, September 6, 1819
Part 4: Republican Diplomacy
- Robert R. Livingston – Examination of the Treaty… Between the United States and Great Britain, 1795
- Alexander Hamilton – Camillus, Numbers I and II, 1795
- George Washington – Farewell Address, September 17, 1796
- Thomas Jefferson to Robert R. Livingston, April 18, 1802
- Letters of Timothy Pickering, January 29, March 4, 1804 and January 8, 1809
- Debate in the House of Representatives, December 1811
- James Madison – War Message to Congress, June 1, 1812
- Report and Resolutions of the Hartford Convention, January 4, 1815
- John Quincy Adams – Diary, November 7, 1823
- James Monroe – Message to Congress, December 2, 1823
Part 5: The Jacksonian Era
- Debate in the New York Constitutional Convention, 1821
- John Quincy Adams – First Annual Message to Congress, December 6, 1825
- Andrew Jackson – Veto of Maysville Road Bill, May 27, 1830
- Henry Clay – Speech on the Maysvill Road Bill Veto, August 3, 1830
- Henry Clay, Speech on the Tariff, March 31, 1824
- The South Carolina Protest against the Tariff, December 19, 1828
- John C. Calhoun – Fort Hill Address, July 26, 1831
- Andrew Jackson – Proclamation to the People of South Carolina, December 10, 1832
- Resolutions of South Carolina on Jackson’s Nullification Proclamation, December 20, 1832
- Andrew Jackson – Bank Veto Message, July 10, 1832
- Daniel Webster – Speech on Jackson’s Veto of the United States Bank Bill, July 11, 1832
- Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge, 1837
- Joseph Story – Dissenting Opinion in Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge, 1837
Part 6: Slavery and Expansion
- Thomas R. Dew – Review of the Debate in the Virginia Legislature of 1831 and 1832, 1832
- William Lloyd Garrison – The Liberator, January 1, 1831
- Theodore Dwight Weld – Slavery As It Is, 1839
- Harriet Beech Stowe – Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 1852
- William J. Grayson – The Hireling and the Slave, 1854
- Henry Clay – Raleigh Letter, April 17, 1844
- James K. Polk – War Message to Congress, May 11, 1846
- Massachusetts Legislature – Resolutions on the War with Mexico, 1847
- Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Daniel Webster, Debate on the Compromise of 1850, February 5-March 7, 1850
- Appeal of the Independent Democrats, January 19, 1854
- Stephen A. Douglas – Speech in the Senate, January 30, 1854
- Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857
- The Lincoln-Douglas Debates, 1858
Part 7: Secession, Civil War and Emancipation
- South Carolina Declaration of Causes of Secession, December 24, 1860
- Abraham Lincoln – First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861
- Jefferson Davis – Message to the Confederate Congress, April 29, 1861
- Abraham Lincoln – Message to Congress, July 4, 1861
- Horace Greeley and Abraham Lincoln on Emancipation, August 19 and 22, 1862
- Abraham Lincoln – The Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863
- Abraham Lincoln – Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863
- 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
- Abraham Lincoln – Proclamation on the Wade-Davis Bill, July 8, 1864
- The Wade-Davis Manifesto, August 5, 1864
- Abraham Lincoln – Speech, April 11, 1865
- Thaddeus Stevens – Speech, December 18, 1865
- Report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction, June 20, 1866
- An Address to the Loyal Citizens and Congress of the United States of America, August 1865
- Wade Hampton on Reconstruction, 1866
- Alexander Stephens on Reconstruction, April 11, 1866
- Andrew Johnson, Cleveland Speech, September 3, 1866
- Andrew Johnson, Veto of the First Reconstruction Act, March 2, 1867
- Charles Sumner – Opinion on the Trial of Andrew Johnson, 1868
- James W. Grimes – Opinion on the Trial of Andrew Johnson, 1868
- Atlanta News – Meet Brute Force with Brute Force, September 10, 1874
- Blance K. Bruce – Speech in the Senate, March 31, 1876
- Slaughterhouse Cases, 1873
- Civil Rights Cases, 1883
- John Marshall Harlan – Dissenting Opinion in Civil Rights Cases, 1883
- Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896
- John Marshall Harlan – Dissenting Opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896
Part 2: Industrialism and Social Reform
- Henry George – Progress and Poverty, 1879
- Edward Bellamy – Looking Backward, 1888
- Andrew Carnegie – Wealth, June 1889
- William Graham Sumner – The Absurd Effort to Make the World Over, March 1894
- Henry Demarest Lloyd – Wealth against Commonwealth, 1894
- Samuel Gompers, Letter on Labor in Industrial Society, September 1894
- Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan and Trust Co. 1895
- John Marshall Harlan – Dissenting Opinion in Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan and Trust Co., 1895
- U.S. v. E.C. Knight and Co., 1895
- John Marshall Harlan, Dissenting Opinion in U.S. v. E.C. Knight and Co., 1895
Part 3: Agrarian Protest
- Resolution of a Meeting of the Illinois State Farmers’ Association, April 1873
- Munn v. Illinois, 1877
- Stephen J. Field – Dissenting Opinion in Munn v. Illinois, 1877
- Populist Party Platform, July 4, 1892
- Grover Cleveland – Message on the Repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, August 8, 1893
- W.H. “Coin” Harvey – Coin’s Financial School, 1894
- James Laurence Laughlin – Answer to “Coin” Harvey, 1895
- William Jennings Bryan – Cross of Gold Speech, July 8 1896
- William Allen White – What’s the Matter with Kansas?, August 16, 1896
Part 4: Imperialism and War
- Josiah Strong – Our Country, 1885
- Henry Cabot Lodge – Our Blundering Foreign Policy, March 1895
- William McKinley – War Message to Congress, April 11, 1898
- Walter Hines Page – The War with Spain and After, June 1898
- Platform of the American Anti-Imperialist League, October 17, 1899
- Woodrow Wilson – Appeal for Neutrality, August 19, 1914
- Woodrow Wilson – Peace without Victory Address, January 22, 1917
- Woodrow Wilson – Speech for Declaration of War against Germany, April 2, 1917
- George W. Norris – Speech against Declaration of War, April 4, 1917
- Woodrow Wilson – Speech on the Fourteen Points, January 8, 1918
- Woodrow Wilson – Speech on the Covenant of the League of Nations, February, 1919
- William E. Borah – Speech on the League of Nations, November, 19, 1919
Part 5: Progressivism
- Lincoln Steffens – The Shame of the Cities, 1904
- George Washington Plunkitt – Honest Graft, 1905
- Walter Lippmann – The Themes of Muckracking, 1914
- Lochner v. New York, 1905
- Oliver Wendell Holmes – Dissenting Opinion in Lochner v. New York, 1905
- Muller v. Oregon, 1908
- David Wilcox – Testimony on Railroad Reform, January 21, 1905
- William P. Hepburn – Speech on Railroad Reform, February 7, 1906
- William Allen White – The Old Order Changeth, 1910
- Elihu Root – Experiments in Government, 1913
- Theodore Roosevelt – Acceptance Speech, August 6, 1912
- Woodrow Wilson – The New Freedom, 1913
- Report of the Pjuo Committee, February 28, 1913
- Woodrow Wilson – First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1913
Part 6: Prosperity and Depression
- Hammer v. Dagenhart, 1918
- Oliver Wendell Holmes – Dissenting Opinion in Hammer v. Dagenhart, 1918
- Abrams v. U.S., 1919
- Oliver Wendell Holmes – Dissenting Opinion in Abrams v. U.S., 1919
- Hiram W. Evans – The Klan’s Fight for Americanism, 1926
- William Allen White – Letter on the Ku Klux Klan, September 17, 1931
- Progressive Party Platform, 1924
- Herbert Hoover – Rugged Individualism Speech, October 22, 1928
- Franklin D. Roosevelt – Commonwealth Club Speech, September 23, 1932
- Franklin D. Roosevelt – First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933
- Herbert Hoover – This Challenge to Liberty, October 30, 1936
- U.S. v. Butler et al., 1936
- Harlan Fiske Stone – Dissenting Opinion in U.S. v. Butler et al., 1936
- Franklin D. Roosevelt – Radio Address on Supreme Court Reform, March 9, 1937
- Report of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Supreme Court Reform, June 7, 1937
Part 7: World War II and The Post-War World
- Franklin D. Roosevelt – Quarantine the Aggressors Speech, October 5, 1937
- Franklin D. Roosevelt – Press Conference on Lend-Lease, December 17, 1940
- Franklin D. Roosevelt – Four Freedoms Speech, January 6, 1941
- Burton K. Wheeler – Speech on Lend-Lease, January 12, 1941
- Charles A. Lindbergh – Speech on America and the War, April 23, 1941
- The Atlantic Charter, August 14, 1941
- Franklin D. Roosevelt – War Message to Congress, December 8, 1941
- The Truman Doctrine, March 12, 1947
- George C. Marshall – The Marshall Plan, June 5, 1947
- George F. Kennan, The Sources of Soviet Conduct, July 1947
- Dean Acheson – Speech for the North Atlantic Treat, March 18, 1949
- Robert A. Taft – Speech against the North Atlantic Treaty, July 11, 1949
- Douglas MacArthur – Address to Congress, April 19, 1951
- Dean Acheson – Testimony on the Military Situation in the Far East, June 1, 1951
- John Foster Dulles – Testimony on the Policy of Liberation, January 15, 1953
- Lewis Mumford – Letter on American Foreign Policy, March 28, 1954
- Dwight D. Eisenhower – Remarks on Peaceful Co-existence, June 30, 1954
Part 8: Contemporary Challenges
A. Civil Rights
- Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 1954
- Declaration of Ninety-six Southern Congressmen, March 12, 1956
- Martin Luther King, Jr – I Have a Dream, August 28, 1963
- Reynolds v. Sims, 1964
- John Marshall Harlan – Dissenting Opinion in Reynolds v. Sims, 1964
- Lyndon B. Johnson – Speech on Voting Rights, March 15, 1965
- Lyndon B. Johnson – Commencement Address at Howard University, June 4, 1965
- Report of the Commission on Civil Disorders, March 2, 1968
- Daniel Patrick Moynihan – Memorandum for President Nixon, January 16, 1970
- Abraham Ribicoff – Senate Speech on De Facto Segregation in Northern Schools, February 18, 1970
- Richard M. Nixon – State Paper on School Desegregation, March 24, 1970
- Citizen’s Advisory Council on the Status of Women – Memorandum on the Proposed Equal Rights Amendment, March 26, 1970
- Arizona State Senator Trudy Camping- Against ERA, 1975
- Fullilove v. Klutznick, 1980
- Potter Stewart – Dissenting Opinion in Fullilove v. Klutznick, 1980
B. The Government and the Economy
- John F. Kennedy – Commencement Address at Yale University, June 11, 1962
- Lyndon B. Johnson – The War on Poverty, March 16. 1964
- Barry Goldwater – Opening Campaign Speech, September 3, 1963
- Lyndon B. Johnson – Economic Report, January 16, 1969
- Declaration of Environmental Rights, 1970
- Richard M. Nixon – Address on the Economy, August 15, 1971
- House Judiciary Committee – Articles of Impeachment, August 20, 1974
- Gerald R. Ford – Address on the Pardon of Richard M. Nixon, September 8, 1974
- Jimmy Carter – Crisis of Confidence Address, July 15, 1979
- 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
- State Department – Policy Statement on Non-Recognition of the Chinese Communist Government, August 10, 1958
- Dwight D. Eisenhower – Farewell Address, January 17, 1961
- John F. Kennedy – Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961
- John F. Kennedy – Report on Soviet Missiles in Cuba, October 22, 1962
- John F. Kennedy – Address on the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, July 26, 1963
- Lyndon B. Johnson – American Policy in Vietnam, April 7, 1965
- J. William Fulbright – The Arrogance of Power, 1966
- Richard M. Nixon – Inaugural Address, January 20, 1969
- The United States and the People’s Republic of China – The Shanghai Communiqué, February 27, 1972
- Richard M. Nixon – Report on the Moscow Summit, June 1, 1972
- Jimmy Carter – Address on the Camp David Accords, September 18, 1978
- Jimmy Carter – Report to Congress on the Failed Hostage Rescue Mission to Iran, April 26, 1980
- Ronald Reagan – Address on Arms Control Negotiations, November 18, 1981