The Constitution of United States of America and Other Classic American Documents

by Various

Ratified in 1788 as the supreme law of the land, the Constitution of the United States of America is the single most important document in American history. The essential American documents collected in this volume span four centuries and include, in addition to the Constitution and its amendments, the Declaration of Independence, Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty” speech, George Washington’s farewell address, Henry David Thoreau’s essay “Civil Disobedience,” America’s declaration of war following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and numerous presidential inaugural addresses.
This special edition features an elegantly designed cover and a durable flexible binding. It is an indispensable addition to any home history library.

368 pages, Leather Bound

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

Various is the correct author for any book with multiple unknown authors, and is acceptable for books with multiple known authors, especially if not all are known or the list is very long (over 50).

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Reviews

[Willow Rankin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a hard book to review - as a non-American I have definitely heard of some of the speeches, documents and poems featured within; including "Ask not What your Country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your county" and the like.
Considering the wide raging documents included within, I was surprised that famous speeches from the Civil Rights movement are included within (Martin Luther King Jr, as an example). However, there are probably many more documents that could of been included.
What I liked, as a non-American is that I now have a beautifully bound reference to some of the most historical works in American Political history. Each document chosen includes a couple of sentences in reference to when the document was first spoken/produced/written (etc) as well as any salient bits on the author.
Overall, I am glad I found this book in Barnes and Nobel in New York and randomly decided to read. For someone like me, its great to learn a bit more about United States of America.

[woop]

Disappointing lack of dragons

[Sarah Dunmire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of classic American documents, speeches, poems, etc. Some were denser than others, but really cool to read them chronologically from leaders of America. For example, George Washington’s speeches had a lot of big words that didn’t say a whole lot. That surprised me. I also didn’t know that it used to be first choice was made President and second choice was made Vice President. Teddy Roosevelt liked long, run-on sentences. The pledge of allegiance didn’t originally have “under god” in it! President Eisenhower insisted it be added by Congress in 1954.

Here were my favorites and most inspiring:
Declaration of Independence
Common Sense by Paine
Paul Revere’s Ride by Longfellow
Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions of the Seneca Falls Convention by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
The Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln
The American Flag by Henry Ward Beecher
The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln
Address of the Niagara Movement, To the Country by W.E.B. Dubois
Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address
We Have Only Just Begin to Fight by FDR
John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address