INCUNABULIBRARY

Historical Documents

Pre-colonial:

-The Magna Carta - Archbishop Stephen Langton
1216 It was in force for only a few months, when it was violated by the king. the version presented here is the one that preceeded all of the others; nearly all of it's provisions were soon superceded by other laws, and none of it is effective today.

-Decameron - Boccaccio Giovanni
1350 Boccacio’s Decameron was a collection of ten times ten tales by ten individuals who had retired to the countryside of Florence to wait out an attack of the plague.

-Areopagitica - John Milton
A speech for the liberty of unlicensed printing to the parliment of England. During the ascendency of Laud in the Church of England, the Court of the Star-Chamber had reenacted some of the restrictions imposed during the reign of Elizabeth on the printing of books. Finally the Order of June, 1643, reproduced here, roused Milton to protest, and he issued his famous plea for unlicensed printing in the following year.

-The Iroquoi Constitution
Some sources place the origin of the Five Nation Confederacy as early as 1390 AD, but others insist it was prepared about 1450-1500 AD; in any case, it was well before any possible contamination by European invaders. Early explorers and colonists found the Iroquois well established, as they had been for many generations: with a democratic government; with a form of religion that acknowledged a Creator in heaven; with a strong sense of family. It is this tradition that excited Benjamin Franklin and John Rutledge while writing the first American Constitution.

-The Mayflower Compact
-The First Thanksgiving

Colonial:

-The King's Fundamental Orders to the Colonies 1639
-Ben Franklin's Plan for a Colonial Union - 1754
-Bill of Rights
-Charlotte Town Resolve 1775
-Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of taking up arms 1775
-Declaration of Independence 1776
-Virginia Declaration of Rights 1776
-Articles of Confederation 1777
-Paris Peace Treaty 1783
-Annapolis Convention 1786
-United States Constitution 1787 including amendments
-Washington's First Letter to Congress 1787
-Northwest Ordinance 1787 Establishes the Northwest Territory northwest of the Ohio river.
-French Bill of Rights 1789
-American Proclamation of Neutrality
France declared war against Great Britain and Holland early in April, 1793. President Washington called a special cabinet meeting, which resulted in this declaration of neutrality.

-Peace Treaty of Greenville between U.S. Colonies and Wyandots, Delawares, Shawanees, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pattawatimas, Miamis, Eel Rivers, Weas, Kickapoos, Piankeshaws, and Kaskaskias. 1795

-Washington's Farewell Address 1796

Post-colonial:

-Federalist Papers
-Monroe Doctrine 1823
-Jefferson's First Inaugural Address
-Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
-Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address
-Emancipation Proclamation 1862

20th Century:

-WWI, Terms of German Surrender
-WWII, Terms of Japanese Surrender

Modern

-Proposed World Constitution - 1991 Never Ratified!