Independence and the Early State (1765-1789)

Resolutions of the Stamp Act

October 19, 1765

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Anonymous Account of the Boston Massacre

March 5, 1770

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Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress

October 14, 1774

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Articles of Association

October 20, 1774

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Yankee Doodle

1775

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Patrick Henry: Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!

March 23, 1775

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Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms

July 6, 1775

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Thomas Paine: Common Sense

1776

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Richard Henry Lee: The Lee Resolution

June 7, 1776

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Virginia Declaration of Rights

June 12, 1776

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George Washington: General Orders

July 2, 1776

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Samuel Adams Advocates American Independence

August 1, 1776

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Treaty of Alliance with France

1778

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George III’s Letter on the Loss of America

c. 1780

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Thomas Jefferson: The Commerce Between Master and Slave

1782

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Contract Between the King and the Thirteen United States of North America (1782)

July 16, 1782

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George Washington: Speech to Officers at Newburgh

1783

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Treaty of Paris

1783

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Declarations for Suspension of Arms and Cessation of Hostilities

January 20, 1783

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Contract Between the King and the Thirteen United States of North America (1783)

February 25, 1783

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Proclamation Declaring the Cessation of Arms

April 11, 1783

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Memorial and Remonstrance

June 20, 1785

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Virginia Act for Religious Freedom

1786

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The Annapolis Convention

Sept. 14, 1786

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Northwest Ordinance

1787

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James Madison & Edmund Randolph: The Virginia Plan

May 29, 1787

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Benjamin Franklin: Closing Speech at the Constitutional Convention

September 17, 1787

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Letter from the Federal Convention President to the President of Congress, Transmitting the Constitution

September 17, 1787

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James Madison: Speech in Defense of the Ratification of the Constitution

June 6, 1788

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Alexander Hamilton: On the Adoption of the Constitution

June 24, 1788

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