This web page has been created in response to the Massachusetts Department of Education's acceptance of the History and Social Science Curriculum Framework. A major component of that framework is that students become familiar with "seminal primary documents." The Framework lists those documents which are mandated to be read and studied along with other seminal primary source documents which should be considered. There is a need for students and teachers to have quick access to those documents. This page provides links to those documents. Those in yellow print are required reading.Click on the buttons to retrieve the required document. The listing of the documents follows the order in which they appear in the Framework.

The Mayflower Compact (1620)

Massachusetts Body of Liberties (1641)

John Locke's Second Treatise on Government (1690)

The Declaration of Independence (1776)

The Suffolk Resolves (1774)

The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1786)

The Massachusetts Constitution (1780)

The Northwest Ordinance (1787)

the United States Constitution

the Federalist Papers number 10

The Federalist Papers numbers 1, 9, 39, 51, 78

the Bill of Rights (1791)

Magna Carta (1215)

English Bill of Rights (1689)

Washington's Farewell Address (1796)

Jefferson's First Inaugural Address (1801)

de Tocqueville's Democracy in America Volume I (1835) and Volume II (1839)

Frederick Douglass' Independence Day Speech at Rochester, New York, 1852

the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions (1848)

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (1863)

Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address (1865)

	Lincoln's House Divided Speech (1858)