Government Documents

Governments can be constitutional monarchies, dictatorships, federal republics, parliamentary democracies, constitutional republics. More than a system of rules and regulations, they help civilized people to live together peacefully. These stories explore different forms of government.

This image depicts a souvenir from the Japanese surrender ceremony which took place on September 2, 1945.The Naval Historical Center provides a captio...

This is a facsimile image of the signature page for Japan’s surrender.  The document was signed during a formal surrender ceremony on board...

  This image depicts the first page of the surrender document which formally ended the War in the Pacific during World War II. It was signed by...

Jeannette Rankin was a lifelong activist for peace.  A member of Congress - representing Montana in the House of Representatives before most Amer...

In 1774, Thomas Jefferson was a delegate to the Virginia Convention.  Representing Albemarle County, Jefferson drafted this set of instructions f...

Thomas Jefferson was very upset about John Marshall's opinion in Marbury v Madison.  Year after the 1803 opinion was written, Jefferson wrote abo...

Thomas Jefferson delivered his first inaugural address on the 4th of March, 1801.  This is a page from his handwritten manuscript. The Library o...

Jefferson's letter to Napoleon, regarding the "Louisiana Purchase," is maintained by the National Archives.

Thomas Jefferson surmised who wrote the various articles as they appeared in The Federalist Papers.  This image depicts the notes he made in his ...

President Jefferson asked Congress for $2,500 for the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the West - all the way to the Pacific Ocean. 

The first page of President Kennedy's inaugural address, as it was actually given. Click on the image for a readable view. See, also:JFK Inaugural A...

The second page of President Kennedy's inaugural address, as it was actually delivered. Click on the image for a readable view.

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