"An indispensable contribution to the understanding of our heritage." - Robert A. Caro "This insightful collection will fascinate, delight, and challenge all who are interested in the progress of the American nation."-Annette Gordon-Reed Here, in a single volume, are the documents (speeches, letters, tweets, Supreme Court decisions, and more) that have forged American history. This 11th edition is now updated with a new chapter on the COVID-19 pandemic, the January 6, 2021 insurrection, and the Biden presidency. Accompanied by interpretations of their significance by noted historian Richard D. Heffner and journalist Alexander B. Heffner, the important documents in this book include: • The Declaration of Independence • The Constitution of the United States • Frederick Douglass' "What, to the Slave, is the Fourth of July?" • The Monroe Doctrine • The Emancipation Proclamation • Woodrow Wilson's War Message to Congress • Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms" speech • John F. Kennedy's inaugural address • Martin Luther King, Jr.'s letter from the Birmingham City Jail • The National Organization for Women (NOW) Statement of Purpose • Roe v. Wade Supreme Court Decision • Documents related to September 11 and the Iraq War • Barack Obama's "A More Perfect Union" speech • Articles of Impeachment against Donald J. Trump More Than One Million Copies Sold!

Foreword 1. A New Nation "Common Sense," Tom Paine The Declaration of Independence 2. The Law of the Land The Constitution of the United States The Federalist Number Ten, James Madison 3. Federalists v. Republicans On the Constitutionality of the Bank of the United States Letter from Thomas Jefferson to George Washington Letter from Alexander Hamilton to George Washington 4. Neutrality and National Growth George Washington's Farewell Address 5. The Jeffersonian Revolution Alien and Sedition Acts Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address 6. The Power of the Court Marbury v. Madison, Chief Justice John Marshall for the Supreme Court7. A Bold Foreign Policy The Monroe Doctrine, James Monroe 8. Jacksonian Democracy On Aristocracy, Letters of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson Veto of the Bank Renewal Bill, Andrew Jackson 9. Liberty or Union Daniel Webster's Second Reply to Hayne 10. The Abolitionist Crusade The First Issue of The Liberator 11. The Sectional Conflict John C. Calhoun on the Slavery Question "The Hireling and the Slave," William J. Grayson 12. The Fateful Decade Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions "What, to the Slave, Is the Fourth of July?" Speech, Frederick Douglass Dred Scott v. Sanford, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney for the Supreme Court 13. War! Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address14. The Prophet of Democracy The Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln The Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln 15. The Conflict over Reconstruction "Our Domestic Relations: The Power of Congress over the Rebel States," Senator Charles Sumner Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address 16. The Gilded Age Democratic Vistas, Walt Whitman Chinese Exclusion Act "Wealth," Andrew Carnegie 17. From Frontier to Factory "The Significance of the Frontier in American History," Frederick Jackson Turner Letter on Labor in Industrial Society, Samuel Gompers Atlanta Exposition Address, Booker T. Washington 18. Grassroots Rebellion The Populist Party Platform "Cross of Gold" Speech, William Jennings Bryan 19. Imperial America "The United States Looking Outward," Alfred T. Mahan Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, Theodore Roosevelt 20. The Progressive Ferment The New Nationalism, Theodore Roosevelt The Old Order Changeth, Woodrow Wilson 21. The Great Crusade and After War Message to Congress, Woodrow Wilson Fourteen Points, Woodrow Wilson The Pueblo Speech on the League of Nations, Woodrow Wilson 22. Boom and Bust "Rugged Individualism," Herbert C. Hoover 23. The Roosevelt Revolution Franklin D. Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address "A Rendezvous with Destiny" Speech, Franklin D. Roosevelt N.L.R.B. v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation Helvering et al. v. Davis West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish 24. The End of Isolation "Quarantine" Speech, Franklin D. Roosevelt "Four Freedoms" Speech, Franklin D. Roosevelt The Atlantic Charter25. The Cold War The Marshall Plan, George C. Marshall "Sources of Soviet Conduct," George F. Kennan ("X") 26. America at Midcentury Brown v. Board of Education, Chief Justice Earl Warren for the Supreme Court Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address 27. From the New Frontier to the Great Society John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address The American University "Strategy of Peace" Speech, John F. Kennedy Civil Rights Speech, John F. Kennedy The Birmingham City Jail "Unwise and Untimely" Letter, Martin Luther King, Jr. "I'm Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired" Speech, Fannie Lou Hamer "Great Society" Speech, Lyndon B. Johnson 28. Decade of Turmoil The National Organization for Women (NOW) Statement of Purpose "Power of the Media" Speech, Lyndon B. Johnson Guildhall Speech on "Television and Politics," Edward R. Murrow "The Importance of Television News" Speech, Spiro T. Agnew Statement to the House Judiciary Committee Regarding the Impeachment of President Richard Nixon, Representative Barbara Jordan House Judiciary Committee Watergate Articles of Impeachment v. Richard M. Nixon Gerald R. Ford's Inaugural Address Potter Stewart, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, on Freedom of the Press, Yale Law School 29. Conservatism Revisited Roe v. Wade, Abortion Decision, Associate Justice Harry A. Blackmun for the Supreme Court Senator Barry Goldwater on Conservatism, Religion, and Politics Ronald Reagan's Inaugural Addresses 30. The End of the American Century Republican Contract with America William Jefferson Clinton, State of the Union Address 31. America at the Millennium George W. Bush, Washington National Cathedral Prayer Service George W. Bush, Joint Session of Congress 32. The Politics of Hope Vice-President Cheney on PBS' NewsHour Vice-President Cheney on CBS' Face the Nation "A More Perfect Union" Speech on Race, Senator Barack Obama Election Night Address, Chicago's Grant Park, President-Elect Barack Obama Barack Obama's First Inaugural Address Barack Obama's Second Inaugural Address 33. Populists Revolt . . . Democracy Under Duress @realDonaldTrump Tweets Senator Bernie Sanders, New Hampshire Primary Victory Speech Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Posts Donald J. Trump's Inaugural Address "My Dad Predicted the Rise of Trump-in 1985," Andrew Postman Excerpts from the Senate Select Intelligence Hearing on Social Media Influence in the 2016 Election 34. Pandemic and Insurrection in the USA HR 755, Articles of Impeachment Against Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for High Crimes and Misdemeanors, 116th Congress of the United States "Vision for Black Lives," Movement for Black Lives, Policy Platform 2020 "Dying in a Leadership Vacuum," The New England Journal of Medicine Editorial HR 24, Articles of Impeachment Against Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for High Crimes and Misdemeanors, 117th Congress of the United States Inaugural Address by Joseph R. Biden, Jr., 46th President of the United States "How the U.S. Pandemic Response Went Wrong During a Year of COVID," Scientific American "I Will Vote to Impeach the President," Representative Liz Cheney "Our Freedom Only Survives If We Protect It," U.S. Capitol, Representative Liz Cheney The Supreme Court Doesn't Just Abuse Its Shadow Docket. It Does So Inconsistently," The Washington Post