+ Charters of Freedom
Features primary documents that shaped U.S. history. See images of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. Learn about the Articles of Confederation, Constitutional Convention, Marbury v. Madison, Louisiana Purchase, slavery, Civil War, 13th Amendment, immigration, and woman suffrage.
See Also: Hi-Def Images of Key Documents
Source: National Archives and Records Administration
+ Declaring Independence: Drafting the Documents
Includes timeline (June 7, 1776 to January 18, 1777).
Presents historical facts surrounding the drafting and signing of the Declaration of Independence. The website includes a chronology of events, background information about the drafts, and images and information about the objects exhibited at the Library of Congress.
Source: Library of Congress.
+ We the People
Presents drafts of the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address, papers of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, an Emancipation Proclamation timeline, slave codes, images of presidential inaugurations, how elections have changed, documents on policies aimed to keep peace between white settlers and Native Americans (1783-1815), duties of the President and other governmental officials in 1825, the role of religion in the founding of the colonies, and more.
Source: Library of Congress
+ Database: National Portrait Gallery
Some images can also be browsed.
Source: Smithsonian NPG
+ Historic Places Commemorating the Signing of the Declaration of Independence
Source: National Park Service
+ Database: Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention Broadsides
Provides 274 documents related to Congress (1774 to 1788) and the drafting and ratification of the Constitution. Items include the journals of Congress, resolutions, proclamations, committee reports, treaties, and early printed versions of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Among the topics: the armed forces, foreign relations, Indians, land settlement, laws, money, and pirates.
Source: Library of Congress
+ The Federalist Papers
Source: THOMAS
+ Documentary History of the First Federal Congress
Provides the debates, legislative histories, and correspondence of the First Federal Congress (FFC) on the establishment of the first three executive departments. Through these actions, the FFC ensured the new government’s stability and created the governmental structures provided by the Constitution.
Sources: University of South Carolina, National Endowment for the Humanities
+ Words and Deeds in American History
Presents historical documents spanning from the 15th to the mid-20th century. Included are the papers of presidents, cabinet ministers, members of Congress, Supreme Court justices, military officers and diplomats, reformers and political activists, artists and writers, scientists and inventors, and other Americans whose lives reflect our country’s evolution. A detailed description accompanies each document.
Source: Library of Congress
+ Revolutionary War Timeline
Source: National Park Service
+ Images of the American Revolution
Source: NARA
+ America’s Founding Fathers
Source: NARA
+ Interactive U.S. Constitution
Source: U.S. Constitution Center
Lets you search the Constitution and find relevant passages and explanations. Discover how the Constitution relates to more than 300 topics, from civil rights to school prayer, including Supreme Court decisions.
+ Fast Facts: The Fourth of July 2007 (via U.S. Census)
Facts include:
+ 2.5 million
In July 1776, the estimated number of people living in the newly independent nation.
+ About 50-50
The odds that the beans in your side dish of baked beans came from Michigan or North Dakota, which produced 49 percent of the nation’s dry, edible beans in 2006. Another popular Fourth of July side dish is corn on the cob. Florida, California, Georgia and New York together accounted for 60 percent of the sweet corn produced nationally in 2006.
+ More than 74 million
Number of Americans who said they have taken part in a barbecue during the previous year. It’s probably safe to assume a lot of these events took place on Independence Day.
+ Eleven places have “independence†in their name. The most populous of these is Independence, Mo., with 110,208 residents.
++ Five places adopted the name “freedom.†Freedom, Calif., with 6,000 residents, has the largest population among these.
++ There is one place named “patriot†— Patriot, Ind., with a population of 195.
+ Fourth of July Fast Facts (via Infoplease.com)
+ U.S. Flag Times (via Infoplease)
+ Statue of Liberty Webcam
+ Washington DC, Capitol Cam
+ Washington DC. Webcam
