Noted historians focus on the most important documents of America's colonial and revolutionary past. From the Mayflower Compact to the Bill of Rights, each document is presented in its original text and placed in its proper historical context.

Roots of the Republic shows how the Constitution was a product, not simply of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, but of a legal and philosophical tradition almost two centuries old. The editors have selected eighteen key documents in the development of that tradition and reproduced them with essays that explain what they mean, why they were written, and why they are important today.

Each key document is accompanied by an interpretive essay written by a contemporary scholar. These essays focus on the importance of each frame of government and include commentaries on why they are meaningful today. Intended to help readers learn how to read and understand these documents, the book is also a handy reference and a strong introduction to the development of political thought and the debates surrounding the formation of the state governments and the federal union.

Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 The Mayflower Compact, 1620
Chapter 3 The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 1639
Chapter 4 The Ten Farms Covenant, 1665
Chapter 5 The New York Charter of Liberties, 1683 and 1691
Chapter 6 The New York City Charter, 1686
Chapter 7 The Albany Plan of Union, 1754
Chapter 8 John Adams's Thoughts on Government, 1776
Chapter 9 The Declaration of Independence
Chapter 10 The Virginia Declaration of Rights and Constitution, 1776
Chapter 11 The New York State Constitution, 1777
Chapter 12 The Massachusetts Constitution, 1780
Chapter 13 The Articles of Confederation, 1781
Chapter 14 The Northwest Ordinance, 1787
Chapter 15 The United States Constitution, 1787
Chapter 16The Federalist on Federalism, 1787-1788
Chapter 17The Federalist on Energetic Government, 1787-1788
Chapter 18 Antifederalist Essays and Speeches, 1787-1788
Chapter 19 The Bill of Rights, 1791
Chapter 20 Afterword: Thomas Jefferson's Letter to Roger D. Weightman, 1826
Chapter 21 Appendix: Catalog of American Founding Documents
Chapter 22 Index
Chapter 23 Contributors