This book contains the three most pivotal documents in American history, in easy-to-read large print: The United States Declaration of Independence, adopted at the Second Continental Congress meeting at Philadelphia in July 1776. The US Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the collective term of the first ten constitutional amendments, created in 1789 and ratified in 1791 at the Philadelphia Congress. The Constitutional Amendments - eleven through to twenty seven. The publisher humbly advances the notion that every American citizen should own a copy of these essential documents, in order to benefit from and reference the wisdom which went into their creation. Together with the principle text, this edition contains images provided courtesy of the United States National Archives as well as independent photographers. Proceeds from the sale of this book go to the American Red Cross, which provides aid and relief in the United States during times of calamity or disaster.

Collected here in one affordable volume are the most important documents of the United States of America: The Constitution of the United States of America with the Bill of Rights and all of the Amendments; The Declaration of Independence; and the Articles of Confederation. These three documents are the basis for our entire way of life. Every citizen should have a copy.

The most important documents of the United States of America, which includes the Constitution of the United States of America, with the Bill of Rights and all of the Amendments; The Declaration of Independence; and the Articles of Confederation.

A Pulitzer Prize-winning historian serves as a guide to the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence, providing historical contexts and offering interpretive commentary.

Our Documents is a collection of 100 documents that the staff of the National Archives has judged most important to the development of the United States. The entry for each document includes a short introduction, a facsimile, and a transcript of the document. Backmatter includes further reading, credits, and index. The book is part of the much larger Our Documents initiative sponsored by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), National History Day, the Corporation for National and Community Service, and the USA Freedom Corps.

“Narrative, celebratory history at its purest” (Publishers Weekly)—the real story of how the Bill of Rights came to be: a vivid account of political strategy, big egos, and the partisan interests that set the terms of the ongoing contest between the federal government and the states. Those who argue that the Bill of Rights reflects the founding fathers’ “original intent” are wrong. The Bill of Rights was actually a brilliant political act executed by James Madison to preserve the Constitution, the federal government, and the latter’s authority over the states. In the skilled hands of award-winning historian Carol Berkin, the story of the founders’ fight over the Bill of Rights comes alive in a drama full of partisanship, clashing egos, and cunning manipulation. In 1789, the nation faced a great divide around a question still unanswered today: should broad power and authority reside in the federal government or should it reside in state governments? The Bill of Rights, from protecting religious freedom to the people’s right to bear arms, was a political ploy first and a matter of principle second. The truth of how and why Madison came to devise this plan, the debates it caused in the Congress, and its ultimate success is more engrossing than any of the myths that shroud our national beginnings. The debate over the Bill of Rights still continues through many Supreme Court decisions. By pulling back the curtain on the short-sighted and self-interested intentions of the founding fathers, Berkin reveals the anxiety many felt that the new federal government might not survive—and shows that the true “original intent” of the Bill of Rights was simply to oppose the Antifederalists who hoped to diminish the government’s powers. This book is “a highly readable American history lesson that provides a deeper understanding of the Bill of Rights, the fears that generated it, and the miracle of the amendments” (Kirkus Reviews).