National Archives and Records Administration



American Originals Exhibit


 
    
Here will be preserved all . . . the records that bind State 
        to

        State and the hearts of all our people in an indissoluble union.

        --President Herbert Hoover, upon laying the cornerstone

        of the National Archives Building, February 20, 1933






 Original documents are the raw stuff of history. They are physical 
links to the past. The original documents of the United States government--those 
that have been identified as having permanent value--are preserved and made available 
to the public by the National Archives. This online exhibit is based on the "American 
Originals" series of exhibitions that appeared in the Rotunda from 1995-2001. 
American Originals presents a selection of some of the most significant 
and compelling documents from the National Archives holdings.



    

          On July 2, 1776, 
            Congress approves a  Resolution for Independence 
            severing ties to Great Britain.
            
 
            

                
 

            

             George Washington 
            speaks of his determination to make democracy 
            a success in his first inaugural address (April 30, 1789). 
            
  In 1803 the young republic nearly 
                doubles in size with the  Louisiana Purchase. 
            
  A casualty list of the  
                54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment 
                reveals the sacrifices of the most celebrated African-American 
                regiment that fought in the Civil War.
            
  A police blotter lists the assassination 
                of  President Abraham Lincoln, 
                April 14, 1865.
            
 
            

                
 

            

             An 1868 treaty with the  
            Sioux Indians recognizes the Black Hills 
            of Dakota as part of the Great Sioux Reservation.
            
  The collision of the  
                 Titanic  with an iceberg 
                is reported in a U.S. Navy memorandum of April 15, 1912.
            
 
        

          A U.S. district 
            court renders its verdict against gangster  
            Al Capone,October 17, 1931.
            
  Eleanor Roosevelt 
                resigns from the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1939 
                over its refusal to permit Marian Anderson to perform at Constitution 
                Hall.
            
 
            

                
 

            

             President Franklin 
            Roosevelt asks that Congress declare 
            war against Japan, December 8, 1941. 
            
  The U.S. announces recognition of 
                the  State of Israel 
                in a statement released, May 14, 1948. 
            
  President 
                John F. Kennedy's speech cards show 
                his remarks in Berlin, June 26, 1963.
            
  President Richard 
                M. Nixon resigns the Presidency in 
                a letter dated August 9, 1974. 
            
 
            

                

            

            President Richard M. Nixon's daily diary 
            lists his telephone conversation with  Apollo 
            11 astronauts on the moon, July 20, 1969. 
            
 
        

    



 

 

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URL: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/american_originals/original.html

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Last updated: March 1996