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Foundation Readings

• Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville
• Mayflower Compact
• Common Sense, Thomas Paine
• Declaration of Independence
• Articles of Confederation
• Constitution
• Bill of Rights
• The Constitution: Searchable by Topic
• The Federalist Papers (By Number and Topic)
• Historic Documents from Early America

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

• Woodrow Wilson's First Inaugural Address
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt, The Four Freedoms

  Struggles for Equality

  • Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe
  • The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave
  • Emancipation Proclamation
  • The Gettysburg Address
  • Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Speech at First Women's Rights Convention
  • William Jennings Bryan, 'Cross of Gold'
  • Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' Speech

  The Concept of the General Welfare

  • A Model of Christian Charity, John Winthrop
  • The Federalist Papers on the General Welfare
  • George Washington's Farewell Address
  • Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address
  • Andrew Jackson's First Inaugural Address
  • Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address