Documents

I. British Documents

1689 English Bill of Rights

1763 Treaty of Paris, 1763

1765 Stamp Act — Isaac Barré Speaks for the Rights of the Colonies

1776 Stamp Act — William Pitt’s Defense of the Colonies

1778 The Mischianza

II. Colonial Documents

1620 Mayflower Compact

1621 Ordinance and Constitution for a Council and Assembly in Virginia

1643 The Articles of Confederation of the United Colonies of New England

1701 Charter of Privileges Granted by William Penn

1754 Albany Plan of Union

1765 Declaration of Rights and Grievances

III. Documents of the American Revolution

1774 A Summary View of the Rights of British America

1774 Suffolk Resolves

1774 Articles of Association

1775 “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death”

1775 Washington’s Commission as Commander-in-Chief

1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights

1776 Constitution of Virginia

1776 Declaration of Independence

1778 Treaty of Amity and Commerce

1778 Treaty of Alliance

1779 A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom

1781 Articles of Confederation

1783 Treaty of Paris, 1783

1783 Washington’s Resignation to Congress

1785 A Memorial and Remonstrance

1787 Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom

1787 Virginia Plan

1787 Constitution of the United States of America

1787 The Federalist

1791 Bill of Rights

IV. Documents Inspired by the American Revolution

1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

V. Other Documents

1799 Washington’s Funeral Oration

1873 Oral Tradition — Recollections of Madison Hemings

1873 Oral Tradition — Recollections of Israel Jefferson

[Lord Frederick] North defended his role in the war for America to his death. He insisted that it did not originate in a despotic wish to tyrannise America, but from the desire of maintaining constitutional authority of Parliament over the colonies. He admitted that the war with American had been unfortunate but not unjust, adding that if he had been forced to mount the scaffold in consequence of the part that I have performed in its prosecution, I shall continue to maintain that it was founded in right and dictated by necessity.

— Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy

The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire (2013)