Annotated Bibliography of Primary Sources

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Annotated Bibliography of Primary Sources

Early State Constitutions (for use in U.S. surveys)

I use all three of the state constitutions listed below to help teach what a constitution is and does and that constitutions can vary considerably. Students must write an essay that compares the content of these constitutions to the summary of state constitutions that appears in their textbook. Thus, the documents help to teach the difference between primary and secondary sources, to improve writing skills, and how to construct an argument using historical evidence.

Constitution of Pennsylvania - September 28, 1776
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/pa08.htm

From The Federal and State Constitutions Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws of the States, Territories, and Colonies Now or Heretofore Forming the United States of America Compiled and Edited Under the Act of Congress of June 30, 1906 by Francis Newton Thorpe; Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1909. Website copyright 1998 by The Avalon Project, William C. Fray and Lisa A. Spar, Co-Directors.

This is the constitution adopted by the state of Pennsylvania following the Declaration of Independence. The Continental Congress had requested each state to take steps to create a legal government, since independence had rendered the old colonial charters null and void. One section contains a declaration of inhabitants' rights. The constitution establishes a one-house legislature, with executive power in the hands of a council (which elected a president and vice president). The council selected judges.

Constitution of Virginia - June 29, 1776
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/va05.htm

This is the constitution adopted by the state of Virginia while the Declaration of Independence was being written. Although Thomas Jefferson was in Philadelphia, he advised the leaders of the delegates on its contents. The constitution thus begins with a list of the reasons why Virginians consider their bond with Great Britain null and void. The constitution establishes a three-branch government that has a two-house legislature. The document as presented on the web site includes the Declaration of Rights adopted by the same delegates on June 12, 1776, which George Mason wrote.

Constitution of New Jersey - 1776
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/nj15.htm

This constitution was framed by a convention after the Continental Congress recommended that the people of the colonies should form independent state governments. The convention met from May 26, 1776, until July 2, 1776. The constitution begins by declaring New Jersey's relationship with Great Britain at an end. It creates a two-house legislature (council and assembly) that jointly elected a governor, who also served as president of the council. Judges and other officers of the state were appointed by the council and assembly jointly.

Dawes Act of 1887 (for use in U.S. surveys)
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/statutes/native/dawes.htm

I use the Dawes Act, also known as the Dawes Allotment Act or the Dawes Severalty Act, to help teach the story of what happened to native American Indians following the Indian wars of the nineteenth century. Students must write an essay that compares the content of the act to the summary of government policy toward Indians that appears in their textbook. Thus, the document also helps to teach the difference between primary and secondary sources, to improve writing skills, and how to construct an argument using historical evidence. In addition, since the textbook's summary blurs together the terms of the Dawes Act with the other simultaneous efforts to civilize the Indians, I hope students will learn the difference between fact and interpretation.

The act allows the president or his appointees to divide reservation lands suitable for agriculture or grazing into individual allotments to be granted to Indians. The government may purchase any lands left over after allotment is complete and then make those lands available to settlers. For 25 years the government would act as trustee for the allotted lands and would also keep money paid for the excess land in trust. In the future state or territorial laws would apply to Indians. Those natives who accept "residence separate and apart from any tribe of Indians therein, and [who] has adopted the habits of civilized life" would become citizens of the United States.

Germanic Law Codes (for use in Western Civ. surveys)

I use the two Germanic law codes listed below to teach more about the legal situation in western Europe following the collapse of the Roman Empire in that area. Students must write an essay that compares the content of the codes to the summary of Germanic law that appears in their textbook. Thus, the documents also help to teach the difference between primary and secondary sources, to improve writing skills, and how to construct an argument using historical evidence. In addition, since the textbook's summary blurs together the terms of different Germanic tribes, I hope students will learn the difference between fact and interpretation.

Anglo-Saxon Law - Extracts From Early Laws of the English
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/medieval/saxlaw.htm

From Stubbs, William. Select Charters and other Illustrations of English Constitutional History from the Earliest Times to the Reign of Edward the First. Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1900. Website copyright 1998 by The Avalon Project, William C. Fray and Lisa A. Spar, Co-Directors.

This selection of extracts from Anglo-Saxon law begins with an introduction by William Stubbs. To quote him, these laws "will be found to contain nearly every mention that occurs in the Collection of our Laws of such matters as public assemblies, courts of law, taxation, or the legal machinery on the carrying out of which the discipline of self-government is based. The great bulk of the laws concern chiefly such questions as the practice of compurgation, ordeal, wergild, sanctity of holy places, persons, or things; the immunity of estates belonging to churches; and the tables of penalties for crimes, in their several aspects as offenses against the peace, the family, and the individual. These, as touching Constitutional History in a very indirect way, are here excluded." The laws cover the period from 600 to 1035 and include entries from Ethelbert, Alfred, Ethelred, Canute, and others. The hypertext includes links to definitions of terms.

The Salic Law
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/medieval/salic.htm

From Henderson, Ernest F. Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages. London : George Bell and Sons, 1896. Website copyright 1998 by The Avalon Project, William C. Fray and Lisa A. Spar, Co-Directors.

These excerpts from the Salic Law code were composed at the time of the Merovingian King Clovis. The excerpts follow the divisions in the code itself and come from 25 of the 65 articles in the code. A note from Henderson follows the excerpts. He explains that he chose those parts which illustrated the "system of landholding, the nature of the early village community, the relations of the Germans to the Romans, the position of the king, the classes of the population, family life, the disposal of property, judicial procedure, [and] the ethical views of the time."

French Absolutism (for use in Western Civ. surveys)

I use the documents below to teach the nature of French absolutism under Louis XIII and Louis XIV. Students must write an essay that compares the content of the documents to the summary of absolutism in France that appears in their textbook. Thus, the documents also help to teach the difference between primary and secondary sources, to improve writing skills, and how to construct an argument using historical evidence.

Cardinal Richelieu, Political Testament (An Account of the State of France in 1624)
http://history.hanover.edu/early/richelie.html

This excerpt from Richelieu's autobiographical Testament Politique, which was published in Amsterdam in 1689, describes the difficulties facing France at the time that Richelieu became the king's primary advisor. He promises that the king will soon gain control of his country because Richelieu would destroy the Huguenots, humble the nobles, make Frenchmen aware of their duty to the throne, and increase French prestige abroad.

Edict of 1626 Ordering the Demolition of the Feudal Castles in France
http://history.hanover.edu/early/demcastl.htm

This excerpt is a translation from Isambert, Recueil General des Anciennes Lois Francaises XVI. The edict declares that interior strongholds, whether castles or towns, must be demolished. The justifications given are that garrisoning such places runs up unnecessary costs and that they serve as retreats for people who cause trouble with their neighbors.

Letters Patent Establishing the French Academy in 1635
http://history.hanover.edu/early/facademy.htm

This excerpt is a translation from Isambert, Recueil General des Anciennes Lois Francaises XVI. The document declares that the flourishing of the sciences and arts helps prove the happiness and power of a country. The king says that the cardinal wishes to have a group of persons who could establish fixed rules for the French language meeting regularly so that French could be adapted to be capable of discussing all the arts and sciences. So the king grants the patent to authorize the said group (the French Academy) with the cardinal as its head.

Extracts from Bossuet's Work on Kingship
http://history.hanover.edu/early/bossuet.htm

This excerpt is translated from Bossuet, Politique Tiree des Propres Paroles de l'Ecriture Sainte. Bossuet uses scripture to bolster his ideas on kingship. He argues that royal power is absolute because a king is the image of God. However, kings must remember that they will eventually answer to God for their rule.

Jean Baptiste Colbert, Memoirs
http://history.hanover.edu/early/colbert.htm

This excerpt covers the financial disorders in France that occurred after the death of Henry IV and Colbert's commercial policies under Louis XIV. Colbert indicts the superintendents of finance for having permitted confusion and disorder and for causing the payment of taxes on a variety of pretexts. As a result, the government was using for current expenses the tax receipts of the following two years, which led to giving discounts to those who would pay in cash and required the payment of interest. The superintendents did this because the system allowed graft, which they used to enrich themselves, their relatives, and their friends, and also because the confusion made them appear indispensable. Colbert's commercial policy is shown through a letter written by Louis XIV to the officials in Marseilles in 1664. The letter lists a number of things the king is doing to encourage trade, especially trade with foreign nations. The king orders the officials to inform the merchants and traders of Marseilles of the content of the letter and says that they should write to Colbert regarding any matter connected to the welfare of commerce.

Accounts of Louis XIV
http://history.hanover.edu/early/louisxiv.htm

One of these accounts is from "Parallele des Trois Premiers Rois Bourbons" (written in 1746), Ecrits Inedits de Saint-Simon, and the other is from Lettres de Madame de Savigne (April 26, 1671), ed. de Sacy (1861). Both the narrators knew Louis XIV personally. Saint-Simon talks about the king's qualities including vanity, great energy, grace, charm, dislike of those who disagreed with him, determination to guard his authority, ability to speak well, and patience. Madame de Savigne discloses the story behind a suicide at Chantilly, which was apparently caused by the victim's fear that the king would not think the hospitality arranged by the host was sufficient. The letter concludes that the suicide made no difference in the quality of the hospitality because someone else assumed responsibility for the arrangements.

Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (October 22, 1685)
http://history.hanover.edu/early/nonantes.htm

This excerpt is a translation from Isambert, Recueil General des Anciennes Lois Francaises XIX. The edict declares that the previous toleration given to Huguenots by the earlier Edict of Nantes is now at an end. The justification given is that since 1598, when the Edict of Nantes was issued, most subjects have left the Protestant religion and returned to the Catholic faith. Hence, the best way "to obliterate the memory of the troubles, the confusion, and the evils which the progress of this false religion has caused in this kingdom" is to revoke the original edict and related articles. In the future the practice of the Huguenot religion would be forbidden and all children were to be baptized into the Catholic church. Huguenots were forbidden to leave France. However, Huguenot believers would not be molested unless they practiced the religion illegally.