Topic: Legal History

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Proposed Resolution for Independence

On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee, a Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress, acted on instructions from the Virginia convention and introduced a motion for independence for the united...
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Quartering Act

The Quartering Act of 1765 was a law passed by Parliament that required colonists to provide housing accommodations for British troops, even during peacetime. Although the act did not force...
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Quartering Act

The Quartering Act of 1774 compelled colonists to provide housing accommodations for British troops. If barracks were not available, barns, taverns, and unoccupied public buildings (but not private homes) were...
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Quebec Act

The Quebec Act of 1774 was a law passed by Parliament that established the structure of government for Canadian territory acquired by Britain as a result of the French and...
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Reflections on the Missouri Question

In this diary entry, John Quincy Adams questioned the wisdom of the Missouri Compromise, which allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state. Adams had supported the compromise...
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Rough Draft of Declaration of Independence (Audio)

This is a dramatic reading of Jefferson’s rough draft of the Declaration of Independence which he presented to the Continental Congress on July 2, 1776. In the document’s powerful preamble,...
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Short Review of the Declaration

This text was a critical response by a British philosopher to the American Declaration of Independence. Presumed to be written by Jeremy Bentham, the document attacks the idea of American...
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Signing of the Act of Independence

This painting by the Venezuelan patriot Juan Lovera records the signing of his country’s declaration of independence in 1811. Beginning in Venezuela in 1806, a series of revolutions resulted in...
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Stamp Act

The Stamp Act required colonists to buy stamps from royal officials and affix them to a variety of documents, including newspapers, playing cards, legal documents, and other paper goods. Parliament...
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Sugar Act

The Sugar Act of 1764 was a revision of the Molasses Act of 1733. The law lowered the duty on foreign molasses imported into the colonies but also tightened enforcement...