Founders’ Library

Loading...

The National Constitution Center’s Founders’ Library includes primary texts that span American history—from the philosophical works that influenced the Founding generation to the most important speeches, essays, books, pamphlets, petitions, letters, court cases, landmark statutes, and state constitutions that have shaped the American constitutional tradition. To ensure nonpartisan rigor and ideological diversity, we assembled a group of leading scholars from diverse perspectives to help choose the primary texts included in the Founders’ Library. We’ve also included sources curated by the National Constitution Center team.

Browse all Documents

Time Period
Constitutional Topics

See More

Historic Document
The Spirit of the Laws (1748)

Montesquieu | 1748

Historic Document
Letter to Bernard Moore (ca. 1773)

Thomas Jefferson | 1773

Historic Document
Historic Document
Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

Abraham Lincoln | 1863

Historic Document
The Gettysburg Address (1863)

Abraham Lincoln | 1863

Historic Document
We Are All Bound Up Together (1866)

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper | 1866

Historic Document
Self-Help (1892)

Ida B. Wells | 1892

Historic Document
Historic Document
The Politics (ca. 350 BC)

Aristotle | 0350 BC

Historic Document
Nicomachean Ethics (ca. 340 BC)

Aristotle | 0340 BC

Historic Document
The Histories (ca. 167-146 BC)

Polybius | 0146 BC

Historic Document
Historic Document
Historic Document
Historic Document
Annals (ca. 100-110)

Tacitus | 0100

Historic Document
Selected Excerpts (1599-1633)

William Shakespeare | 1599

Historic Document
“Selected Excerpts” (1620)

Francis Bacon | 1601

Historic Document
Historic Document
Historic Document
The Excellencie of a Free State (1656)

Marchamont Nedham | 1656

Historic Document
The Commonwealth of Oceana (1656)

James Harrington | 1656

Historic Document
Historic Document
Historic Document
Historic Document
Cato’s Letters (1720-23)

John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon | 1720

Historic Document
Historic Document
Historic Document
Argument in the Zenger Trial (1735)

John Peter Zenger | 1735

The 1735 trial of John Peter Zenger later shaped the Founding generation’s commitment to a free press.

Historic Document
Historic Document
Historic Document
The Law of Nations (1758)

Emmerich de Vattel | 1758

Historic Document
Historic Document
Historic Document
On Crimes and Punishments (1764)

Cesare Bonesana di Beccaria | 1764

Historic Document
Historic Document
Massachusetts Circular Letter (1768)

Samuel Adams and James Otis | 1768

Historic Document
Letter to Reverend Samuel Occum (1774)

Phillis Wheatley | 1774

Historic Document
Common Sense (1776)

Thomas Paine | 1776

Historic Document
Thoughts on Government (1776)

John Adams | 1776

Historic Document
Letter to John Adams (1776)

Abigail Adams | 1776

Historic Document
The Virginia Declaration of Rights

Virginia House of Delegates | 1776

Historic Document
The Declaration of Independence

Second Continental Congress | 1776

Historic Document
Pennsylvania Constitution (1776)

Pennsylvania Convention | 1776

Historic Document
Historic Document
Letter to Gouverneur Morris (1777)

Alexander Hamilton | 1777

Historic Document
The Essex Result

Theophilus Parsons | 1778

Historic Document
Historic Document
Massachusetts Constitution (1780)

Massachusetts Constitutional Convention | 1780

Historic Document
Articles of Confederation (1781)

Continental Congress | 1781

Historic Document
Notes on the State of Virginia (1782)

Thomas Jefferson | 1782

Historic Document
Newburgh Address (1783)

George Washington | 1783

Historic Document
The New Hampshire Bill of Rights

New Hampshire Constitutional Convention | 1784

Historic Document
Historic Document
To the Public (1786)

James Iredell | 1786

Historic Document
Letter to Henry Knox (1786-1787)

George Washington | 1786

Historic Document
Historic Document
Historic Document
Historic Document
The Northwest Ordinance (1787)

Confederation Congress | 1787

Historic Document
Historic Document
Historic Document
Essay No. 1 (1787)

Brutus | 1787

Historic Document
Federalist 1 (1787)

Alexander Hamilton | 1787

Historic Document
Federalist 10 (1787)

James Madison | 1787

Historic Document
Federalist 37 (1788)

James Madison | 1788

Historic Document
Federalist 51 (1788)

James Madison | 1788

Historic Document
Federalist 55 (1788)

James Madison | 1788

Historic Document
Federalist 68, 70, 72 (1788)

Alexander Hamilton | 1788

Historic Document
Historic Document
Federalist 78 (1788)

Alexander Hamilton | 1788

Historic Document
Correspondence on a Bill of Rights (1787-1789)

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison | 1789

Historic Document
First Inaugural Address (1789)

George Washington | 1789

Historic Document
Historic Document
Letter to the Society of Quakers (1789)

George Washington | 1789

Historic Document
Petition from the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery to the First Congress (1790)

Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery | 1790

Historic Document
Historic Document
Farewell Address (1796)

George Washington | 1796

Historic Document
Historic Document
The Virginia Resolutions (1798)

James Madison | 1798

Historic Document
First Inaugural Address (1801)

Thomas Jefferson | 1801

Historic Document
Historic Document
Speech at Vincennes (1810)

Tecumseh | 1810

Historic Document
Historic Document
Indian Removal Act (1830)

Congress | 1830

Historic Document
Bank Veto Message (1832)

Andrew Jackson | 1832

Historic Document
Historic Document
Historic Document
The Gag Rules (1835-1840)

House of Representatives | 1835

Historic Document
The Rights of Colored Men (1838)

William Yates | 1838

Historic Document
Historic Document
Seneca Falls Declaration (1848)

Seneca Falls Convention | 1848

Historic Document
Historic Document
Historic Document
Historic Document
Massachusetts Personal Liberty Act (1855)

Commonwealth of Massachusetts | 1855

Historic Document
Historic Document
South Carolina Declaration of Secession (1860)

State of South Carolina | 1860

Historic Document
Cooper Institute Address (1860)

Abraham Lincoln | 1860

Historic Document
A Plea for Free Speech in Boston (1860)

Frederick Douglass | 1860

Historic Document
Historic Document
Retaliation Order (1863)

Abraham Lincoln | 1863

Historic Document
Second Inaugural Address (1865)

Abraham Lincoln | 1865

Historic Document
Black Codes (1865)

Mississippi and South Carolina | 1865

Historic Document
Historic Document
Historic Document
Historic Document
Historic Document
One Man Power vs. Congress (1866)

Charles Sumner | 1866

Historic Document
Historic Document
Historic Document
Historic Document
Political Recollections, 1840-1872 (1884)

George Washington Julian | 1884

Historic Document
Populist Party Platform (1892)

Populist Party | 1892

Historic Document
Historic Document
The Nation’s Safeguard (1893)

David J. Brewer | 1893

Historic Document
Historic Document
Historic Document
Historic Document
Remarks on Taxation (1909)

Cordell Hull | 1909

Historic Document
Liberty of Contract (1909)

Roscoe Pound | 1909

Historic Document
The New Nationalism (1911)

Theodore Roosevelt | 1910

Historic Document
The New Freedom (1913)

Woodrow Wilson | 1913

Historic Document
Historic Document
Historic Document
“Freedom of Speech” (1918)

Zechariah Chafee, Jr. | 1918

Historic Document
Address on Constitution Day (1937)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt | 1937

Loading...
More from the National Constitution Center
Constitution 101

Explore our new 15-unit core curriculum with educational videos, primary texts, and more.

Media Library

Search and browse videos, podcasts, and blog posts on constitutional topics.

Founders’ Library

Discover primary texts and historical documents that span American history and have shaped the American constitutional tradition.

The Constitution