Sourcebook and Index: Documents that Shaped the American Nation

Features a complete index and vocabulary to the series, as well as a collection of 94 primary sources relating the U.S. history that will make every history lover ecstatic. This sourcebook traces the development of the fundamental ideals on which our society is based: free speech and a free press, religious toleration, due process of law, racial equality, and government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Beginning with the Magna Carta and concluding with a speech delivered by President Ronald Reagan at Moscow State University in 1988--celebrating the spread of American ideals of freedom at the end of the Cold War--this sourcebook allows students to analyze the charter documents of American freedom. These include our society's basic constitutional documents, such as the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, landmark Supreme Court decisions from Marbury v. Madison to the Pentagon Papers case, the most influential presidential addresses, and documents illuminating the experience of the diverse groups that make up our society. At a time when educators are increasingly concerned with skills-building, this sourcebook can serve a valuable pedagogical function. It helps students learn to read primary source documents closely and critically by teasing out a document's assumptions, uncovering its meanings, and assessing its historical significance.