Founding & Constitutional Documents
Chronological primary-document collection from The Tower Project archive, ordered by original publication, adoption or ratification year as labeled. Includes later constitutional amendments, human-rights instruments and landmark legal records. Archived PDFs are hosted in Google Drive; institutional references are separately linked where available.
Magna Carta · 1215
Declaration of Independence · 1776
Articles of Confederation · 1777
Northwest Ordinance · 1787
United States Constitution · 1787
The Federalist Papers · 1788
Bill of Rights (ratified) · 1791
Washington's Farewell Address · 1796
Emancipation Proclamation · 1863
Gettysburg Address · 1863
Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address · 1865
13th Amendment (ratified) · 1865
14th Amendment (ratified) · 1868
15th Amendment (ratified) · 1870
19th Amendment (ratified) · 1920
Universal Declaration of Human Rights · 1948
24th Amendment (ratified) · 1964
Civil Rights Act · 1964
Voting Rights Act · 1965
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights · 1966
26th Amendment (ratified) · 1971
Shelby County v. Holder · 2013
Additional legislation and constitutional records
The archive also maintains an Acts collection, including later federal legislation, and further amendment folders. These are not silently mixed into the founding chronology.
Browse Acts collectionConstitutional amendments — additional annotated records
Federal acts and legislation — archival collection
Archived PDF — Enforcement Act of 1871Archived PDF — National Security Act of 1947Archived PDF — USA PATRIOT Act of 2001Archived PDF — USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2006Archived PDF — FISA Amendments Act of 2008Archived PDF — Senate report — 112th CongressArchived PDF — National Defense Authorization Act — 2019–2020Archived PDF — SAVE Act — H.R. 22 bill text (119th Congress)Archived PDF — SAVE Act — section-by-section analysis