The following is a list of letters, speeches, documents, web sites, books, and articles on significant people and events in American political thought and history. Rather than being a comprehensive list of available resources, it is meant to be a list of the best resources available on the given subject.

Declaration of Independence

• Resources on ashbrook.org
  • Thomas Jefferson, Rough Draft of the Declaration of Independence
  • Declaration of Independence
  • Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Henry Lee, May 8, 1825
  • Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Roger Weightman, June 24, 1826

• Other Web Sites (links will open in a separate browser window)
  • The Users Guide to the Declaration of Independence

Constitution

• Resources on ashbrook.org
  • Constitution of the United States of America
  • Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America
  • Index to the Constitution and Amendments
  • The Federalist Papers: No. 1, No. 10, No. 23, No. 35, No. 47, No. 48, No. 49, No. 51, No. 63, No. 70
  • State Ratification Dates
  • Electoral College Resources
  • Charles Kesler, Speech at the Ashbrook Center on The Federalist Papers (1999)
  • William B. Allen, Speech at the Ashbrook Center on The Federalist Papers (2001)

• Books and Articles (books listed are linked to amazon.com and will open in a separate browser window)
  • Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay, Charles R. Kesler (Introduction), Clinton Rossiter (Editor), The Federalist Papers (New York: Mentor Books, 1999)
  • Ralph Ketcham (Editor), The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates
    (New York: Mentor Books, 1996)
  • W.B. Allen with Kevin A. Cloonan, The Federalist Papers: A Commentary: "The Baton Rouge Lectures"
    (New York: Peter Lang, 2000)

• Other Web Sites (links will open in a separate browser window)
  • Philip B. Kurland and Ralph Lerner (Editors), The Founders’ Constitution
  • James Madison, The Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787 (Another version available from The Avalon Project at Yale Law School.)
  • The Federalist Papers (Other versions available from The Library of Congress, founding.com and www.mcs.net/~knautzr/fed/fedindex.htm.)
  • The Anti-Federalist Papers (Other version available from constitution.org.)
  • Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation (Annotations of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States)
  • A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates
  • Bill of Rights Institute
  • Biographies of Delegates to the Constitutional Convention

George Washington

• Resources on ashbrook.org
  • George Washington, Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior
  • George Washington, Letter to Lewis Nicola, May 22, 1782
  • George Washington, First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789
  • George Washington, Thanksgiving Proclamation, October 3, 1789
  • George Washington, Letter to the Hebrew Congregation at Newport, c. August 1790
  • George Washington, Last Will and Testament

• Books and Articles (books listed are linked to amazon.com and will open in a separate browser window)
  • William B. Allen (Editor), George Washington: A Collection
    (Liberty Fund, 1988)
  • Richard Brookhiser, Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington
    (Free Press, 1996)
  • Gregg, Gary L. II and Matthew Spalding, Patriot Sage: George Washington and the American Political Tradition
    (ISI Books, 1999)
  • Patrick J. Garrity and Matthew Spalding, A Sacred Union of Citizens: George Washington's Farewell Address and the American Character (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1996)

• Other Web Sites (links will open in a separate browser window)
  • The Papers of George Washington
  • George Washington Online

John Adams

• Resources on ashbrook.org
  • John Adams, A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, 1765
  • John Adams, Thoughts on Government, 1776
  • C. Bradley Thompson, Speech at the Ashbrook Center on John Adams (1999)

• Books and Articles (books listed are linked to amazon.com and will open in a separate browser window)
  • C. Bradley Thompson, John Adams and the Spirit of Liberty (University Press of Kansas, 1998)
  • C. Bradley Thompson (ed), The Revolutionary Writings of John Adams (Liberty Fund, 2001)

Thomas Jefferson

• Resources on ashbrook.org
  • Thomas Jefferson, A Summary View of the Rights of British America, 1774
  • Thomas Jefferson, Rough Draft of the Declaration of Independence, 1776
  • Thomas Jefferson, A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, 1779
  • Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Slavery
  • Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Henry Lee,
    May 8, 1825 (on the Declaration of Independence)
  • Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Roger Weightman, June 24, 1826 ("the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs")

James Madison

• Resources on ashbrook.org
  • Federalist No. 10
  • Federalist No. 23
  • Federalist No. 47
  • Federalist No. 48
  • Federalist No. 49
  • Federalist No. 51
  • Federalist No. 63
  • Gary Rosen, Speech at the Ashbrook Center on James Madison (2000)

• Books and Articles (books listed are linked to amazon.com and will open in a separate browser window)
  • Gary Rosen, American Compact: James Madison and the Problem of Founding (University Press of Kansas, 1999)

• Other Web Sites (links will open in a separate browser window)
  • James Madison, The Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787

Benjamin Franklin

• Resources on ashbrook.org
  • Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Alexander Hamilton

• Resources on ashbrook.org
  • Federalist No. 1
  • Federalist No. 35
  • Federalist No. 70

Thomas Paine

• Resources on ashbrook.org
  • Common Sense

Edmund Burke

• Resources on ashbrook.org
  • Speech on Conciliation with America,
    March 22, 1775

John Dickenson

• Resources on ashbrook.org
  • Letter 2 from Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer
  • Letter 4 from Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer

General Readings on the Founding

• Resources on ashbrook.org
  • Articles of Confederation
  • Northwest Ordinance
  • The Virginia Declaration of Rights
  • Marbury v. Madison (1801)
  • McCullough v. Maryland (1819)

• Books and Articles (books listed are linked to amazon.com and will open in a separate browser window)
  • Thomas G. West, Vindicating the Founders: Race, Sex, Class, and Justice in the Origins of America (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1997)
  • Michael P. Zuckert, The Natural Rights Republic: Studies in The Foundation of The American Political Tradition (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1996)
  • Michael P. Zuckert, Natural Rights and the New Republicanism (Princeton Univ Press, 1994)

Abraham Lincoln

• Resources on ashbrook.org
  • Abraham Lincoln, Fragments on Slavery, c. April 1, 1854
  • Abraham Lincoln, Speech on the Repeal of the Missouri Compromise, October 16, 1854
  • Abraham Lincoln, Speech on the Dred Scott Decision, June 26, 1857
  • Abraham Lincoln, First Debate with Stephen A. Douglas, August 21, 1858
  • Abraham Lincoln, Address at Cooper Institute, February 27, 1860
  • Abraham Lincoln, Fragment on the Constitution and Union, c. January, 1861
  • Abraham Lincoln, Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, September 22, 1862
  • Abraham Lincoln, Final Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863
  • Abraham Lincoln, Proclamation for Thanksgiving, October 3, 1863
  • Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863
  • Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865

• Books and Articles (books listed are linked to amazon.com and will open in a separate browser window)
  • Harry V. Jaffa, Crisis of the House Divided: An Interpretation of the Issues in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, rev. 1999)
  • Harry V. Jaffa, A New Birth of Freedom: Abraham Lincoln and the Coming of the Civil War (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2000)

• Other Web Sites (links will open in a separate browser window)
  • The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln (Abraham Lincoln Association)
  • http://lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/gadd/ (Library of Congress)

Frederick Douglass

• Resources on ashbrook.org
  • Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, 1845
  • Frederick Douglass, Oration In Memory Of Abraham Lincoln, April 14, 1876

Booker T. Washington

• Resources on ashbrook.org
  • Booker T. Washington, Atlanta Exposition Address, 1865
  • Booker T. Washington, Democracy and Education, Address Before the Institute of Arts and Sciences, Brooklyn, New York, September 30, 1896

Calvin Coolidge

• Resources on ashbrook.org
  • Calvin Coolidge, Speech on the Occasion of the One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, July 5, 1926

Martin Luther King, Jr.

• Resources on ashbrook.org
  • Martin Luther King, Jr., "I Have A Dream" Speech, August 23, 1963

• William Strunk, Jr., The Elements of Style
• History/Social Studies for K-12 Teachers
• Federal Resources for Educational Excellence
• Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators - General History & Social Studies Sites
• Social Studies Lesson Plans and Resources
• Social Studies School Service Links
• National Council of Social Studies Links
• Project Gutenberg
• Political Map of the World, 1998
• Internet Classics Archive