Historical Documents
Join or Die: Benjamin Franklin’s Forgotten Call for Union (1754)
Before the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, Benjamin Franklin had a bold idea to unite the colonies – an idea most people have never heard of. In 1754, just before the Albany Congress, he published his famous โJoin...
Free and Independent States: Forgotten Conclusion of the American Revolution
Signed on Sept 3, 1783 – the Treaty of Paris was intended to end the war for independence. But the war didn’t officially end on that date with the signatures of Franklin, John Adams and John Jay. The treaty, made with 13 free, sovereign, and independent...
Myth Busted! Virginia, Not Congress, Called for the Philadelphia Convention
Most people seem to believe that the constitutional convention of 1787 was called for by Congress under the Articles of Confederation. Even the Library of Congress makes this claim. But itโs totally false. It was actually the Commonwealth of Virginia that initiated...
History Ignored: The Northwest Ordinance of 1787
One of the most important foundational documents in American history, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 is one that most people never learn about. Following principles outlined by Thomas Jefferson in 1784, it included a precursor to the bill of rights four years before...