Famous Speeches and Documents in U.S. History

"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."

• Statue of Liberty (Lazarus)

• Monroe Doctrine

• Mayflower Compact

• Gettysburg Address (Lincoln)

• Declaration of Independence (Jefferson)

"We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this..."

• Emancipation Proclamation (Lincoln)

• Constitution Preamble

• First Amendment

• John F. Kennedy

• Theodore Roosevelt

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal."

• Martin Luther King Jr.

• Constitution Preamble

• Statue of Liberty (Lazarus)

• John F. Kennedy

• Emancipation Proclamation (Lincoln)

"...that we highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that they government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

• Statue of Liberty (Lazarus)

• Ronald Reagan

• Monroe Doctrine

• Gettysburg Address (Lincoln)

• Declaration of Independence (Jefferson)

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall..."

• Statue of Liberty (Lazarus)

• Ronald Reagan

• Mayflower Compact

• Gettysburg Address (Lincoln)

• Declaration of Independence (Jefferson)

"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, thenceforth, and forever free..."

• Martin Luther King Jr.

• Constitution Preamble

• Statue of Liberty (Lazarus)

• John F. Kennedy

• Emancipation Proclamation (Lincoln)

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

• Emancipation Proclamation (Lincoln)

• Constitution Preamble

• First Amendment

• John F. Kennedy

• Theodore Roosevelt

"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

• Emancipation Proclamation (Lincoln)

• Constitution Preamble

• First Amendment

• John F. Kennedy

• Theodore Roosevelt

This document states that any attempt by European powers to establish colonies or overthrow newly independent republics in the Western Hemisphere would be considered "dangerous to our peace and safety"

• Monroe Doctrine

• Constitution Preamble

• First Amendment

• John F. Kennedy

• Theodore Roosevelt

This document created a civil government in which democratic principles were put into action to create, "just and equal laws...for the good of the colony."

• Statue of Liberty (Lazarus)

• Monroe Doctrine

• Mayflower Compact

• Gettysburg Address (Lincoln)

• Declaration of Independence (Jefferson)