America250 — 250 years since 1776. Explore two and a half centuries of American history. Start the tour

Documents

108 entries

Featured

Brown v. Board of Education

The 1954 Supreme Court ruling that declared school segregation unconstitutional

Civil Rights Act of 1964

The landmark law that banned discrimination and made legal segregation a federal crime

Declaration of Independence

The 1776 founding document asserting American independence and natural rights

Dred Scott v. Sandford

The 1857 Supreme Court ruling that declared Black Americans had no constitutional rights

Browse by Subcategory

Founding Documents

The foundational texts of the American republic — declarations, charters, and constitutions that established the government and its principles.

Acts of Congress and federal statutes that shaped American economic, civil, and political life across two and a half centuries.

Supreme Court Decisions

Landmark rulings of the Supreme Court that defined constitutional rights, federal power, and the limits of American democracy.

Speeches and addresses — inaugural, ceremonial, and unscripted — that crystallized American purpose at decisive moments.

All Documents (A–Z) A–Z By date

A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

A

Affordable Care Act

The 2010 law that extended health coverage to 20 million Americans and reshaped the political landscape

Ain't I a Woman?

Sojourner Truth's case for equal rights, 1851

Alien and Sedition Acts

The 1798 laws that tested the limits of free speech and nearly tore the young republic apart

Articles of Confederation

America's first constitution and the document that proved insufficient

B

The Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, ratified 1791

Brown v. Board of Education

The 1954 Supreme Court ruling that declared school segregation unconstitutional

C

The Child Labor Amendment

The failed amendment to let Congress regulate child labor

Chinese Exclusion Act

The First Federal Law to Bar Immigration by Race, 1882

Civil Rights Act of 1866

The first federal law to define American citizenship and guarantee equal rights regardless of race

Civil Rights Act of 1875

Reconstruction's promise of equal public life — struck down 89 years before it could be replaced

Civil Rights Act of 1964

The landmark law that banned discrimination and made legal segregation a federal crime

Civil Rights Act of 1968

The Fair Housing Act — Passed One Week After King's Assassination

Thomas Paine's 1776 pamphlet that made independence a popular cause

The Congressional Apportionment Amendment

The original "First Amendment" that was never ratified

The Corwin Amendment

The failed amendment that would have protected slavery forever

D

The D.C. Voting Rights Amendment

The failed amendment to give Washington full representation in Congress

The 1887 Law That Dismantled Native American Tribal Land

Day of Infamy Speech

FDR asks Congress for war, December 1941

Declaration of Independence

The 1776 founding document asserting American independence and natural rights

Dred Scott v. Sandford

The 1857 Supreme Court ruling that declared Black Americans had no constitutional rights

E

Eighteenth Amendment

The Constitutional Ban on Alcohol That Created Prohibition, 1919–1933

Eighth Amendment

The ban on cruel and unusual punishment

Eleventh Amendment

State sovereign immunity from federal lawsuits

Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln's 1863 executive order that transformed the Civil War into a war for human freedom

Equal Rights Amendment

The Proposed Constitutional Amendment for Gender Equality, 1923–Present

Espionage Act of 1917

The Wartime Law That Criminalized Dissent — and Never Went Away

F

The Fair Labor Standards Act

The 1938 law that set the minimum wage, the 40-hour week, and ended child labor

FDR's First Inaugural Address

Franklin Roosevelt declares war on the Great Depression, March 4, 1933

The Federalist Papers

The 85 essays that explained the Constitution to a skeptical public — and defined American political thought

Fifteenth Amendment

The 1870 amendment that prohibited denying the vote on the basis of race

Fifth Amendment

Due process, self-incrimination, and the rights of the accused

First Amendment

The constitutional guarantee of speech, press, religion, assembly, and petition

The Four Freedoms

FDR's vision for a world worth defending, 1941

Fourteenth Amendment

The 1868 amendment that defined citizenship and guaranteed equal protection under the law

Fourth Amendment

The guarantee against unreasonable searches and seizures

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

The law that forced the North to enforce slavery — and radicalized it

G

Gettysburg Address

Lincoln's 272-word speech that redefined the purpose of the Civil War

The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 — the law that built the American middle class

Gibbons v. Ogden

The 1824 ruling that gave Congress the power to regulate the national economy

Gideon v. Wainwright

The unanimous 1963 ruling that guaranteed the right to counsel for every criminal defendant

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death

Patrick Henry's call to arms, 1775

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

The 1964 Congressional Authorization That Escalated the Vietnam War

H

The 1862 law that gave 160 acres to settlers and reshaped the American interior

I

Martin Luther King Jr. at the March on Washington, August 28, 1963

Immigration Act of 1924

The Johnson-Reed Act That Closed America's Door by Race and Nation

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

The Hart-Celler Act that abolished the national-origins quotas and remade America

The Indian Citizenship Act

The 1924 law that made Native Americans citizens of a country built on their land

Indian Removal Act

The 1830 law that authorized the forced relocation of Indigenous peoples east of the Mississippi

Interstate Commerce Act

The 1887 Law That First Subjected American Business to Federal Regulation

K

Kansas-Nebraska Act

The 1854 law that reopened the slavery debate and shattered American politics

Kennedy's Inaugural Address

Ask not what your country can do for you, 1961

Korematsu v. United States

The 1944 ruling that upheld Japanese American internment — and was later repudiated

L

The Lend-Lease Act

The law that made America the Arsenal of Democracy before it entered World War II

Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

"With Malice Toward None" — Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1865

Loving v. Virginia

The 1967 ruling that struck down bans on interracial marriage

M

Marbury v. Madison

The 1803 ruling that established the Supreme Court's power to strike down laws

The American Program That Rebuilt Western Europe After World War II

Mayflower Compact

The 1620 shipboard agreement that planted the seed of American self-governance

McCulloch v. Maryland

The 1819 ruling that established the doctrine of implied federal powers

Medicare and Medicaid Act

The 1965 Law That Created Health Coverage for the Elderly and the Poor

Miranda v. Arizona

The 1966 ruling that gave every suspect the right to silence

Missouri Compromise

The 1820 deal that delayed the Civil War by 40 years — and guaranteed it would be worse

Monroe Doctrine

The 1823 declaration that the Western Hemisphere was closed to further European colonization

The 1862 land-grant law that democratized higher education and created America's state universities

N

National Security Act of 1947

The law that created the CIA, NSC, and Joint Chiefs — and built the permanent architecture of the Cold War

Neutrality Acts of the 1930s

The Congressional Attempt to Legislate America Out of Another World War

Nineteenth Amendment

The Constitutional Amendment That Gave Women the Right to Vote, 1920

Ninth Amendment

The rights retained by the people

North Atlantic Treaty

The 1949 alliance document that reversed 150 years of American foreign policy

Northwest Ordinance

The 1787 law that established the framework for American territorial expansion

O

Obergefell v. Hodges

The 2015 Supreme Court decision that established the constitutional right to same-sex marriage

P

Pacific Railway Act

The 1862 legislation that authorized the transcontinental railroad and opened the continent

Pendleton Civil Service Act

The 1883 Reform That Ended the Spoils System in Federal Hiring

Pentagon Papers

The leaked Defense Department history that revealed the government had systematically lied about Vietnam

Plessy v. Ferguson

The 1896 Supreme Court ruling that made "separate but equal" the law of the land

R

The 1973 Supreme Court decision that made abortion a constitutional right — and its 2022 reversal

S

The Second Amendment

Twenty-seven words at the center of America's gun debate

Seventeenth Amendment

The Amendment That Created Direct Election of U.S. Senators, 1913

Seventh Amendment

The right to a jury trial in civil cases

Sherman Antitrust Act

The 1890 law that gave the federal government its first tool against monopoly power

Sixteenth Amendment

The Amendment That Created the Federal Income Tax, 1913

Sixth Amendment

The right to a speedy, public, and fair criminal trial

Social Security Act

The 1935 law that created the American social safety net

The 1765 British tax that turned colonial discontent into revolutionary purpose

T

The 1773 law that provoked the Boston Tea Party and made revolution inevitable

Tear Down This Wall

Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate, 1987

Tenth Amendment

The powers reserved to the states and the people

Third Amendment

The near-forgotten ban on quartering soldiers in private homes

Thirteenth Amendment

The 1865 constitutional amendment that abolished slavery in the United States

The 1972 law that transformed women's sports and education

The Titles of Nobility Amendment

The "phantom" amendment that would strip citizenship for foreign titles

Treaty of Paris (1783)

The agreement that ended the Revolutionary War and recognized American independence

Twelfth Amendment

The overhaul of how the Electoral College elects a president

Twentieth Amendment

The "Lame Duck" Amendment moving up Inauguration Day

Twenty-fifth Amendment

Presidential succession and disability

Twenty-First Amendment

The Repeal of Prohibition — The Only Amendment to Undo Another, 1933

Twenty-fourth Amendment

The abolition of the poll tax in federal elections

Twenty-second Amendment

The two-term limit on the presidency

Twenty-seventh Amendment

The 203-year journey of the congressional pay amendment

Twenty-sixth Amendment

Lowering the voting age to eighteen

Twenty-third Amendment

Presidential electors for the District of Columbia

U

U.S. Constitution

The 1787 framework of government that has governed the United States ever since

United States v. Nixon

The unanimous 1974 ruling that forced the White House tapes and ended a presidency

The USA PATRIOT Act

The 2001 law that expanded surveillance after September 11

V

Voting Rights Act of 1965

The law that finally enforced the 15th Amendment — nearly a century after its ratification

W

The 1935 law that gave American workers the right to organize

War Powers Resolution

Congress's 1973 attempt to reclaim the power to declare war from the executive branch

Washington's Farewell Address

The 1796 letter in which the first president warned against the dangers that would define American history