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Famous Historical Documents

Charters, declarations, laws and speeches that shaped history, and what each one said.

76 cardsGrades 6–8, Grades 9–12#documents#magna carta#declaration#constitution

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76 cards
  • Code of Hammurabi (c. 1754 BCE)Document
    Babylonian law code carved on a stone pillar
  • Cyrus Cylinder (539 BCE)Document
    Persian clay cylinder describing Cyrus's rule and respect for local customs
  • Twelve Tables (c. 450 BCE)Document
    Rome's first written laws, displayed in the Forum
  • Edicts of Ashoka (c. 250 BCE)Document
    Messages carved on pillars by the Maurya emperor about justice and compassion
  • Rosetta Stone (196 BCE)Document
    Decree in three scripts that helped decode hieroglyphs
  • Edict of Milan (313 CE)Document
    Roman proclamation of religious tolerance
  • Justinian Code (529-534)Document
    Byzantine collection of Roman laws that shaped later legal systems
  • Constitution of Medina (c. 622)Document
    Early agreement among communities in Medina
  • Domesday Book (1086)Document
    English survey of land and property ordered by William the Conqueror
  • Magna Carta (1215)Document
    English charter limiting the king's power and protecting rights
  • Golden Bull (1222)Document
    Hungarian charter limiting royal power, similar to Magna Carta
  • Gutenberg Bible (c. 1455)Document
    First major book printed in Europe with movable type
  • 95 Theses (1517)Document
    Martin Luther's list of church criticisms
  • Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)Document
    Spain and Portugal divided new lands outside Europe
  • Mayflower Compact (1620)Document
    Agreement by Pilgrims to govern themselves fairly
  • Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639)Document
    One of the first written constitutions in the colonies
  • Petition of Right (1628)Document
    English document limiting the king's power to tax and jail without cause
  • English Bill of Rights (1689)Document
    Guaranteed Parliament's powers and individual rights
  • Two Treatises of Government (1689)Document
    John Locke's work on natural rights and consent of the governed
  • Common Sense (1776)Document
    Thomas Paine's pamphlet arguing for independence
  • Declaration of Independence (1776)Document
    Announced the colonies' freedom and the ideas of equality and rights
  • Articles of Confederation (1781)Document
    First US government plan
  • Northwest Ordinance (1787)Document
    Set rules for new territories and banned slavery north of the Ohio
  • US Constitution (1787)Document
    Framework of the US government
  • Federalist Papers (1787-88)Document
    Essays defending the Constitution
  • Bill of Rights (1791)Document
    First ten amendments protecting individual rights
  • Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789)Document
    French statement of rights and equality under the law
  • A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)Document
    Mary Wollstonecraft's argument for women's education and equality
  • Washington's Farewell Address (1796)Document
    Warned about political division and foreign entanglements
  • Monroe Doctrine (1823)Document
    Warned Europe against new colonies in the Americas
  • Declaration of Sentiments (1848)Document
    Seneca Falls document calling for women's equality
  • Communist Manifesto (1848)Document
    Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels's pamphlet about class struggle
  • Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)Document
    Ended the Mexican-American War
  • Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)Document
    Novel that increased opposition to slavery
  • Emancipation Proclamation (1863)Document
    Lincoln's order freeing enslaved people in rebelling states
  • Gettysburg Address (1863)Document
    Lincoln's short speech about equality and 'government of the people'
  • 13th Amendment (1865)Document
    Ended slavery in the United States
  • 14th Amendment (1868)Document
    Citizenship and equal protection for all persons born in the US
  • 15th Amendment (1870)Document
    Gave Black men the right to vote
  • 19th Amendment (1920)Document
    Gave women the right to vote
  • Origin of Species (1859)Document
    Charles Darwin's book on evolution by natural selection
  • Balfour Declaration (1917)Document
    British letter supporting a Jewish homeland in Palestine
  • Fourteen Points (1918)Document
    Woodrow Wilson's plan for post-WWI peace
  • Treaty of Versailles (1919)Document
    Peace treaty ending WWI with Germany
  • Atlantic Charter (1941)Document
    Churchill and Roosevelt's statement of war aims
  • Four Freedoms (1941)Document
    FDR's speech on freedom of speech, worship, from want and from fear
  • UN Charter (1945)Document
    Founding document of the United Nations
  • Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)Document
    UN statement of rights for all people
  • Brown v. Board of Education (1954)Document
    Supreme Court decision against school segregation
  • Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963)Document
    Martin Luther King Jr.'s defense of nonviolent protest
  • I Have a Dream (1963)Document
    King's speech at the March on Washington
  • Civil Rights Act (1964)Document
    Outlawed segregation in public places and job discrimination
  • Voting Rights Act (1965)Document
    Protected voting rights for Black citizens
  • Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)Document
    Banned discrimination against people with disabilities
  • Silent Spring (1962)Document
    Rachel Carson's book that sparked the environmental movement
  • The Diary of a Young GirlDocument
    Anne Frank's diary, published in 1947
  • Wealth of Nations (1776)Document
    Adam Smith's book on markets and trade
  • Leviathan (1651)Document
    Thomas Hobbes's book on government and order
  • The Social Contract (1762)Document
    Rousseau's book on the general will
  • The Prince (1532)Document
    Machiavelli's guide to ruling, published after his death
  • Dead Sea ScrollsDocument
    Ancient manuscripts found in caves near the Dead Sea starting in 1947
  • Treaty of Paris (1783)Document
    Ended the American Revolution
  • Treaty of Westphalia (1648)Document
    Ended the Thirty Years' War
  • Great Law of PeaceDocument
    Haudenosaunee constitution, some influence on early American ideas is debated
  • Cherokee Constitution (1827)Document
    Written constitution of the Cherokee Nation
  • Sequoyah's syllabaryDocument
    Cherokee writing system created in the 1820s
  • Indian Citizenship Act (1924)Document
    Granted citizenship to Native Americans born in the US
  • Emancipation Manifesto (1861)Document
    Russian tsar Alexander II freed the serfs
  • Meiji Constitution (1889)Document
    Japan's first modern constitution
  • Constitution of India (1950)Document
    World's longest written national constitution
  • Magna Carta's clause 39Document
    No free person to be punished without lawful judgment, a root of due process
  • Habeas corpusDocument
    Principle that you cannot be held without legal charges; strengthened by England's 1679 Act
  • Bill of Rights (1689) vs 1791Document
    England's came first; the American one added rights to the US Constitution
  • Homestead Act (1862)Document
    Offered free land to settlers who farmed it
  • Pendleton Act (1883)Document
    Created merit-based jobs in the federal government
  • Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)Document
    Law against monopolies

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