United States Documents: Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, U.S. Contitution

The following are important documents to which everyone should have access and reference on a regular basis:

Additional Online Documents and References
(U.S. and New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware)

Modern Documents

C-SPAN Online - program schedules and election results
Court TV Law Center
Government Printing Office (GPO): GPO Access
Government Publications Network
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
New Jersey History and Culture
Pennsylvania History / Explore PA History
U.S. Historical Documents (Junto Society)

Historic Documents

Articles of Confederation: Yale
Bracton's De Legibus
Confederate States of America Constitution
Core Documents of U.S. Democracy
Declaration of Independence
- Declaration of Independence
- Interpreting the Declaration of Independence by Translation
The Federalist Papers
Gettysburg Address
Magna Carta
Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project
Mayflower Compact
Medieval Legal History (Internet Medieval Sourcebook)
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) [Charters of Freedom]
New Jersey History and Culture: NJ Historical Documents NJ Historical Documents Post 1776
Pennsylvania Doc Heritage / PA State Archives / PA Constitution (Duquesne Univ.) / About
Thomas Jefferson on Government and Politics
U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates 1774-1873 - American Memory Collection at Library of Congress
United States Constitution:
- Emory Law School - Browsable and searchable, with amendments never ratified
- Cornell Law School - Browsable only

Hillsdale College - Constitution 101 - Online course (free) - learning meaning and priciples
Heritage Foundation - Online with extensive commentary
U.S. Customs and Immigration - downloadable PDF

United States Historical Documents - From the University of Oklahoma Law Center
US History.org

What price liberty?

The Declaration of Independence

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated.

But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKean was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr, noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives; His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart.

Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education.

They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

They gave you and me a free and independent America.

The history books never told you a lot about what happened in the Revolutionary War.

Our forefathers didn't just fight the British. They were British subjects at that time, and they fought their own government! Some of us take these liberties so much for granted...and we shouldn't.

So, take a few minutes this year while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

Remember: Freedom is never free!

Note: This piece, which is widely circulated on the Internet in various forms and in print as far back as 1956, has some rebuttals (which are interesting themselves).

Did You Know?

Benjamin Franklin, John Adams & Thomas Jefferson served on the committee that picked the eagle for the national seal (Franklin wanted the turkey.)
Bald eagles have few natural enemies & live only in North America.
Bald eagles get their white head & tail feathers about 4-5 years of age.
The only other kind of eagle in North America is the golden eagle.
Bald eagles mate for life, but if one dies, the survivor will accept a new mate.
It is a felony to shoot an eagle.

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