PREFACE
The plan of this book is to include (a) all the absolutely essential documents, such as the Declaration of Independence and the Federal Constitution, (b) the more important acts, resolves, state constitutions, royal instructions, &c., not easily obtainable elsewhere, (c) samples of the more human variety of source materials, such as debates, letters, pamphlets, Indian relations, and frontier petitions, which illustrate and often influenced public opinion.