Not summaries. The complete text of a thousand documents, five centuries of American history.
The founding documents, the great speeches and the landmark rulings, with the recordings where they exist
All 60 inaugural addresses, from George Washington in 1789 to the second Trump inaugural in 2025, and 238 State of the Union messages and addresses to Congress, from Washington's first annual message in 1790 to February 2026.
The Constitution and all 27 amendments, each clause followed by an explanation of what it means and how it has been applied. Alongside it, the journal of the Constitutional Convention day by day, all 85 Federalist papers and the ratification debates in the state conventions.
116 decisions from Chisholm v. Georgia in 1793 to Dobbs in 2022, including Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, Dred Scott, Brown v. Board of Education, Miranda v. Arizona and Obergefell v. Hodges, each with a summary of why it matters.
Explorers, colonists, soldiers and citizens in their own words: Columbus, Cabot and Balboa; the Mayflower Compact and the colonial charters; Bunker Hill and Gettysburg; the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments; the Marshall Plan speech; and the landmark laws of the twentieth century.
All 30 of Franklin Roosevelt's Fireside Chats, 28 with the original broadcast recordings, plus film and audio of Kennedy's inaugural and Cuban Missile Crisis address, Reagan at the Berlin Wall, the Moon landing, FDR's Day of Infamy speech and nine presidential inaugurations. Audio keeps playing while you read, with controls on the lock screen.
Search the full text of all 1,000 documents at once. Look up "separate but equal," "all men are created equal" or any name, place or phrase, and jump straight to each matching paragraph with your search highlighted.
Every way into the collection, plus bookmarks, adjustable reading size and sharing by mail or message
All 1,000 documents by decade, from the 1490s to the present day. Sort any list by year or title, and filter it as you type.
Clause by clause with commentary, plus the Convention journal, the Federalist and the ratification debates.
Every inaugural address, Washington in 1789 to Trump in 2025.
238 annual messages and addresses to Congress, 1790 to 2026.
116 landmark decisions, Chisholm v. Georgia to Dobbs, each with a summary.
All 30 of Franklin Roosevelt's radio talks, with the original broadcasts and transcripts.
Film and sound of inaugurations and speeches, 1912 to 2009.
Every document and recording is stored on your device. No account, no ads, no tracking, nothing to download later.
A dark reading theme designed for long documents, on iPhone and iPad
One-time purchase • No subscriptions • No in-app purchases
✓ 1,000 primary source documents, 1493 to 2026
✓ All 60 inaugural addresses
✓ 238 State of the Union messages and addresses
✓ The Constitution with commentary, the Convention journal and all 85 Federalist papers
✓ 116 landmark Supreme Court decisions with summaries
✓ All 30 Fireside Chats, 28 with the original recordings
✓ Film and audio of inaugurations and speeches
✓ Full-text search of every word
✓ Bookmarks, reading size and sharing
✓ Universal app for iPhone & iPad, works offline
For students, teachers, debaters, and anyone who wants to read the sources for themselves
Since 1989, Historycentral has been creating award-winning educational tools trusted by educators, students, and families worldwide. US Documents was written and compiled by the historians at Historycentral.com, with 30 years of experience producing multimedia American history for students, teachers and anyone who wants to read the sources for themselves.
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