Magna Carta Charter King John of England 1216 "To no one will we sell, to none will we deny or delay, right or justice." Edward by the grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Guyan, to all Archbishops, Bishops, etc. We have seen the Great Charter of the Lord Henry, sometimes King of England, our father, of the Liberties of England, in these words: Henry by the grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Guyan, and Earl of Anjou, to all Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Priors, Earls, Barons, Sheriffs, Provosts, Officers, and to all Bailiffs and other our faithful Subjects , which shall see this present Charter, Greeting. Know ye that we, unto the honour of Almighty God, and for the salvation of the souls of our progenitors and successors, Kings of England, to the advancement of holy Church, and amendment of our Realm, of our meer and free will, have given and granted to all Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Priors, Earls, Barons, and to all freemen of this our realm, these liberties following, to be kept in our kingdom of England for ever. http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/magnacarta/magtrans.html http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/magnacarta/magmain.html The Declaration of Independence Proclamation Thomas Jefferson 1776 "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume amonth the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/declaration/declaration.html http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/declaration/decmain.html The Articles of Confederation Charter Second Continental Congress 1777 "The United States of America" To all to whom these Presents shall come, we the undersigned Delegates of the States affixed to our Names send greeting. Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. http://w3.one.net/~mweiler/ushda/artconf.txt The Constitution Charter Federal Convention 1789 "We, the People" We, the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Prosperity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/constitution/constitution.html http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/constitution/conmain.html The Emancipation Proclamation Proclamation Abraham Lincoln 1862 "...shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free" By the President of the United States of America: A Proclamation. Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit: "That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom." http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/emancipate.htm http://www.nara.gov/publications/prologue/franklin.html Gettysburg Address Speech Abraham Lincoln 1863-11-19 Gettysburg, PA "Four score and seven years ago" Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96feb/lincoln.html http://www.nps.gov/linc/home.htm "I have a dream" Speech Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 1963-08-28 Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC "I have a dream." Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity. But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. http://www.mecca.org/~crights/dream.html http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96jan/king.html Ich Bin Ein Berliner Speech John F. Kennedy 1963-06-26 Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany "Ich bin ein Berliner." I am proud to come to this city as the guest of your distinguished mayor, who has symbolized throughout the world the fighting spirit of West Berlin. And I am proud to visit the Federal Republic with your distinguished chancellor, who for so many years has committed Germany to democracy and freedom and progress, and to come here in the company of my fellow American General Clay, who has been in this city during its great moments of crisis and will come again if ever needed. Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was Civis Romanus sum. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is Ich bin ein Berliner. I appreciate my interpreter translating my German! http://www.debateinfo.com/hall_of_fame/speeches/jfk2.html http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96may/kennedy.html