Chapter 1: British America in 1763
Benjamin Franklin: “Observations Concerning the Increase of
Mankind”
Benjamin Franklin: Albany Plan of Union
Benjamin Franklin: Join, or Die
Jonathan Mayhew: Two Discourses
James Glen: “The Situation, Strength, and Connections of the
Several Nations of Neighboring Indians”
Minavavana: Address to Alexander Henry
Pontiac: “Master of Life Speech”
Proclamation of 1763
Paxton Boys: A Declaration and Remonstrance of the
Distressed and Bleeding Frontier Inhabitants of the Province of Pennsylvania
Benjamin West: The Death of General Wolfe
Chapter 2: The Imperial Crisis
Thomas Pownall: The Administration of the
Colonies
Oxenbridge Thacher: The Sentiments of a British
American
James Otis: The Rights of the British Colonies
Asserted and Proved
Daniel Dulany: Considerations on the Propriety of Imposing
Taxes in the British Colonies, for the Purpose of Raising a Revenue, by Act of
Parliament
Patrick Henry: Virginia Resolves on the Stamp Act
Francis Bernard: Letter to the Board of Trade
Thomas Moffat: Letter to Joseph Harrison on the Newport Riot
Declaration of Rights of the Stamp Act Congress
William Bradford: “Expiring: In Hopes of a Resurrection to
Life Again”
Nathaniel Ryder: The Great Debate in the Committee
of the Whole House of Commons on the Stamp Act, 1766
Letter from London Merchants Urging Repeal of the Stamp Act
House of Commons Examination of Benjamin Franklin about the
Stamp Act
Chapter 3: The Crisis Deepens
The Declaratory Act
George Mason: Letter to the Committee of Merchants in London
“Address to the Ladies”
“Save Your Money, and Save Your Country!”
John Dickinson: Letters from a Farmer in
Pennsylvania
Report on the Boston Massacre
Paul Revere: “The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King-Street
Boston on March 5th 1770, by a party of the 29th Reg.”
Joseph Warren: “Boston Massacre: An Oration”
Benjamin Franklin: “Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be
Reduced to a Small One”
“Tea, Destroyed by Indians”
“Edenton Tea Party”
George Hewes: Recollection of the Boston Massacre
Chapter 4: Rebellion
Intolerable Acts
Quebec Act
Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress
First Continental Congress: Letter to the Inhabitants of the
Province of Quebec
Patrick Henry: “Liberty or Death” Speech
Francis Smith: Letter to Governor Thomas Gage
Anna Young Smith: “An Elegy to the Memory of the American
Volunteers”
Thomas Gage: Offer of Amnesty
Olive Branch Petition
Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms
Proclamation by the King for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition
The Second Continental Congress Responds to King George
III’s Proclamation of Rebellion
Thomas Paine: Common Sense
Charles Inglis: The Deceiver Unmasked
Declaration of Independence
Chapter 5: The Limits of Independence
Felix: Petition to the Governor of Massachusetts
Peter Bestes, et al.: Letter to Their Representatives
Phillis Wheatley: Letter to Samson Occom
Lord Dunmore: Proclamation
Original Draft of the Declaration of Independence
Thomas Hutchinson: Strictures on the Declaration of the
Congress at Philadelphia
Petition of Prince Hall and Others to the Massachusetts
General Court
Nero Brewster: Petition to the New Hampshire General
Assembly
Pennsylvania: An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery
Cato: Letter and Petition to the Pennsylvania Assembly
Thomas Jefferson: Notes on the State of
Virginia
Chapter 6: Winning the War
George Washington: Address to the Continental Congress
George Washington: Letter to Martha Washington
George Washington: General Orders
Abigail Adams: “Remember the Ladies” Letter
John Adams: Reply to the “Remember the Ladies” Letter
George Washington: Letter to John Hancock
Thomas Paine: The American Crisis
Molly Gutridge: “A New Touch on the Times”
Esther DeBerdt Reed: Sentiments of an American
Woman
Representation of a Parade Condemning the Treason of
Benedict Arnold
Eliza Wilkinson: Letters from a Planter’s Daughter
George Washington: Farewell Address
Boyrereau Brinch: Pension Application
Memoirs of Andrew Sherburne; a Pensioner of the Navy of the
Revolution
Jehu Grant: Pension Application
Chapter 7: Losing the War
Janet Schaw: Treatment of Loyalists in North Carolina
Nicholas Cresswell: Journal of a Loyalist in Virginia
Joseph Brant: Letter to Lord George Germain
“Anna Rawle: A Loyalist’s Daughter”
Murphy Steele: The Lost Dream
William Humphrey: “The Savages Let Loose, or the Cruel Fate
of the Loyalists”
Chickasaw Chiefs: Appeal to Congress
Freedom Certificate
“Memoirs on the Life of Boston King”
A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison
List of Documents by Category
Index