Documents

Chronology of Events in Documents:

1492 Privileges and Prerogatives Granted by their Catholic Majesties, Isabella and Ferdinand, to Christopher Columbus.

1492 Excerpts from the journal of Christopher Columbus.

1493/4 Letter from Columbus to King and Queen of Spain, translated, reports on the success of his voyage.

1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, dividing North and South America by Spain and Portugal.

1606 Virginia Charter granted by King James.

1607 Instructions from the Virgina Company of London to the captains and company of Jamestown.

1606-24 Jamestown events recounted in John Smith’s history.

1610 Laws for the Colony of Virginia.

1620 Mayflower Compact.

1622 A Jamestown settler describes life in Virginia.

1629 Salem Covenant.

1630 John Winthrop, “A Modell of Christian Charity,” preached en route to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

1636 The Enlarged Salem Covenant.

1647 Old Deluder Satan Act for public schools in Massachusetts.

1649 Maryland Act of Religious Toleration.

1663 Rhode Island Royal Charter.

1682 William Penn, An Act for Freedom of Conscience.

1693 Cotton Mather, account of Salem Witch Trial.

1700 The publication of The Selling of Joseph, the first anti-slavery text in America.

1704  Act to Prevent the Growth of Popery in Maryland.

1753 Virginia Governor Dinwiddie letter demanding French removal from Ohio River Valley, delivered by Major George Washington.

1756 Act to Prevent the Growth of Popery in Maryland.

1763 Treaty of Paris, finalizing expanded British control in North America.

1763 Proclamation from King George III prohibiting American colonists from settling in the lands west of the Appalachians.

1764 The Sugar Act, a tax on sugar imported into the American colonies.

1765 The Stamp Act, the first direct tax on the American colonies issued by the Parliament in Great Britain.

1765 The Quartering Act, the first of two issued to the American colonies.

1765 The Stamp Act Congress met in New York in October of 1765 and published the Resolutions of the Stamp Act Congress.

1766 An Act Repealing the Stamp Act and The Declaratory Act are passed on the same day.

1767 Letter from Benjamin Franklin to Lord Kames on the topic of the tension between Britain and the colonies.

1767 Parliament issues a series of laws known as The Townshend Acts.

1767-68 John Dickinson’s letters arguing against the Townshend Acts published as “Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies”.

1768 Massachusetts issued a Circular Letter to the other Colonial Legislatures in response to the Townshend Acts.

1773 The Tea Act passed by British Parliament.

1774 The Coercive, or Intolerable Acts: The Boston Port Act, The Massachusetts Government Act, The Administration of Justice Act, and The Quartering Act.

1774 Thomas Jefferson’s A Summary View of the Rights of British America.

1774-1789 The Journals of the Continental Congress, Selected Documents.

1775 Edmund Burke’s Speech on Conciliation with the Colonies.

1775 (1798) Letter from Paul Revere written in 1798 recounting his 1775 ride.

1775 George Washington’s Address to the Continental Congress upon his appointment as Commander of the Continental Army.

1775  Letter from patriot John Waller regarding Battle of Bunker Hill.

1776 Maryland Constitution ratified, Declaration of Rights XXXIII restores religious freedom to all Christians, including Catholics.

1776 Thomas Paine’s Common Sense.

1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights, written by George Mason and adopted by Virginia in June 1776.

1776 Thomas Jefferson’s original draft of the Declaration of Independence.

1776 Text of The Declaration of Independence; the original signatures.

1776 Henry Knox letter to his wife Lucy concerning the Battle of Trenton.

1777 The Articles of Confederation adopted by the Continental Congress in November.

1778 Von Steuben Blue Book with military rules and regulations (published 1779).

1781  Washington’s letter to Cornwallis detailing terms of surrender.

1787 Constitutional Convention: James Madison’s Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention, Jonathan Elliot’s Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution (or collection of both Elliot and Madison’s notes), Farrand’s Records of the Federal Convention of 1787 (published in 1911), James Madison’s Virginia Plan, and William Paterson’s New Jersey Plan.

1787 The Federalist Papers, and the Antifederalist Papers.

1787-88 Ratified Constitution of the United States transcription; Heritage Foundation’s Guide to the Constitution.

1791 The Bill of Rights transcription.

1793-94 Washington’s Proclamation of Neutrality; Pacificus & Helvidius Letters—Hamilton’s defense of the Proclamation and Madison’s responses.

1794 The Jay Treaty between Britain and the United States.

1795-96 The Treaty of San Lorenzo with Spain (“Pinckney’s Treaty”) that resolved navigation disputes and established southern boundary of the US.

1796 Washington’s Farewell Address, published as a letter on September 17.

1798 The Alien and Sedition Acts

1800 Convention of 1800 between France and America, also known as The Treaty of Mortefontaine.

1800 The Treaty of San Ildefonso transcription, Spain officially transferred the Louisiana territory back to France.

1800 Tally of Electoral Votes for the 1800 Presidential Election.

1800 Letter from Alexander Hamilton, Concerning the Public Conduct and Character of John Adams, Esq. President of the United States.

1801 Jefferson’s First Inaugural Address.

1803 Jefferson's Secret Message to Congress Regarding the Lewis & Clark Expedition, asking for $2,500 in funding.

1803 Marbury v. Madison decision, a landmark case in the history of judicial review.

1803 Louisiana Purchase Treaty, by which the United States purchased 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million from France.

1803 Meriweather Lewis’ Packing List for the expedition to the West.

1803-1806 Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

1804 Amendment XII, providing the procedure for electing the president and vice president.

1809 The “Treaty of Fort Wayne,” requiring native tribes to sell some three million acres of land in Midwestern America to the federal government.

1812 Special Message to Congress on the Foreign Policy Crisis, a speech delivered by James Madison in which he asks Congress to declare war against Great Britain.

1812 An Act Declaring War Between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Dependencies Thereof and the United States of America and Their Territories, marking the official start of the War of 1812.

1814 The Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812.

1815 “Like a Sea of Blood,” A Kentucky Soldier’s Account of the Battle of New Orleans.

1819 Treaty of Amity, Settlement, and Limits Between the United States of America and His Catholic Majesty also known as the “Adams-Onís Treaty.” Spain ceded Florida to the United States. Signed in 1819, ratified and went into effect in 1821.

1819 The Application of Missouri for Admission to the Union.

1820 The Missouri Compromise, legislation that admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a non-slave state at the same time.

1823 The Monroe Doctrine, articulated during President Monroe's seventh annual message to Congress.

1824 The Constitution of United Mexican States, ratified after Mexico’s independence from Spain.

1824 Tally of the 1824 Electoral College Vote.

1828 Tariff Act, also known as the “Tariff of Abominations."

1830 The Indian Removal Act, which authorized the President to negotiate removal treaties with Indian tribes living east of the Mississippi River.

1830 President Andrew Jackson's Message to Congress ‘On Indian Removal.’

1832 The Tariff Act of 1832, which slightly lowered rates from the controversial 1828 "Tariff of Abominations."

1832 South Carolina Ordinance of Nullification, in which the state of South Carolina declared that it would treat the federalTariff Acts of 1828 and 1832 as null and void.

1832 Worcester v. State of Georgia Supreme Court decision, Written by Chief Justice John Marshall, the Court held that the state of Georgia had no jurisdiction over Cherokee land.

1833 Force Bill, in which President Andrew Jackson declared that states did not have the right of nullification, as South Carolina had claimed, and asked Congress for authority to collect the tariff by force if necessary.

1834 “Book of Sports,” by Robin Carver.

1835 Transcript of the Treaty of New Echota.

1835 Declaration of the People of Texas.

1836 William Barret Travis' Letter from the Alamo, dated February 24, 1836.

1836 Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico.

1836 The Treaty of Velasco, formally ending the Texas Revolution.

1839-1851 Laws of the Cherokee Nation, a written constitution.

1840 Lyrics to “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too,” the campaign song of Whig candidate, William Henry Harrison.

1845 John O’Sullivan’s “Annexation” from the United States Magazine and Democratic Review.

1845 The ‘Knickerbocker Rules’ drafted by Alexander Cartwright and William Wheaton, which formalized the rules of the modern concept of baseball and were applied at the first official game at Elysian fields.

1846 President Polk’s speech: Announcement of War with Mexico.

1846 Treaty with Great Britain, in Regard to Limits Westward of the Rocky Mountains, also known as the Oregon Treaty.

1847 An overview of Congressman Abraham Lincoln’s ‘Spot Resolutions,’ with primary documents.

1848 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, formally ending the Mexican-American War.

1848 National American Woman Suffrage Association full document from “The first convention ever called to discuss the civil and political rights of women,” including the Declaration of Sentiments.

1848 President James K. Polk’s Fourth Annual Message to Congress, confirming the discovery of gold in California.

1851 Maryland Constitution, Article 33, secures religious liberty for Jews and non-Christians.

1854 "An Act to Organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas," more popularly known as the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise.

1857 The “Laws of Baseball,” also known as Baseball’s ‘Magna Carta’ proposed at the ‘Convention for Baseball’ sponsored by the Knickerbocker Baseball club (primary source).

1857 Dred Scott v. Sanford decision.

1858 The Lecompton Constitution primary document and transcript excerpt on slavery in the Kansas Territory.

1860 A bill for the admission of the State of Kansas into the Union.

1919 Amendment XIX, granting women the right to vote.

1939 Transcript and clips from Babe Ruth’s Hall of Fame Induction Speech.

1951 Amendment XXII, limiting the presidency to two terms.

Documents will be added to this bank chronologically as we progress through history with the films.