Primary Source Documents for Educational Use
The documents below consist of Virginia-related texts for use by 11th-Grade United States History teachers. Most of the texts are excerpts rather than full transcriptions, designed for ease of use in the classroom.
From Colony to State, 1750-1800
A Nation in the Making, 1775-1825
Virginia and the New South, 1875-1925
From Colony to State, 1750-1800
- Patrick Henry's Resolutions in Condemnation of the Stamp Act, 1765
- Journal of Philip Vickers Fithian, 1774
- Excerpt from George Washington's Correspondence to Bryan Fairfax, 1774
- Condemnation of Mary Easson, Virginia Gazette, 1776
- Excerpt from the Virginia Declaration of Rights, adopted June 12, 1776
- Excerpt from the Declaration of Independence, 1776
- Richard Henry Lee to his sister, Hannah Lee Corbin, 1778
- Excerpt from Petition of James, a Slave, 1786
- Excerpt from Thomas Jefferson to his Daughter, Martha, 1787
- Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, 1787
- George Washington's Farewell Address, 1796
- Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, 1801
- Elizabeth Macmurdo School Essay, 1806
A Nation in the Making, 1775-1825
- Patrick Henry on Slavery, 1773
- Virginia Declaration of Rights, 1776
- Declaration of Independence, 1776
- Taxation of Women Without Representation, 1778
- Thomas Jefferson on Slavery, 1781
- Economic Sectionalism and Nationalism, 1784
- Proslavery Petition, 1785
- Petition for Freedom, 1786
- Slavery in the Territories, 1787
- Powers of Congress, 1787
- Manumission of Slaves by Will, 1787
- Alexander Hamilton on a Bill of Rights, 1788
- Patrick Henry on a Bill of Rights, 1788
- Slavery and the Constitution, ca. 1790
- Federalism and the Bill of Rights, 1791
- Manumission of a Slave by Deed, 1793
- George Washington on the Union, 1796
- George Washington on Foreign Affairs, 1796
- Gabriel's Conspiracy, The Trials, 1800
- Gabriel's Conspiracy, The Reports, 1800
- The Constitutionality of the Louisiana Purchase, 1803
- Education for Citizenship, 1803
- Status of Free Blacks in Virginia, 1806
- Economic Nationalism and Sectionalism, 1812
- Request of a Free Black Person to Remain in Virginia, 1815
- Economic Future of the Union, 1818
- John Marshall on the Powers of the National Government, 1819
- Sectionalism and the Missouri Compromise, 1820
- The Monroe Doctrine, 1823
Virginia and the New South, 1875-1925
- Voting in Virginia, 1888
- Arguments Against Women's Suffrage, 1919
- Arguments for Woman Suffrage, 1914
- Ballot stuffing in late-19th-century Virginia
- A governor questions the value of public education, 1878
- A governor defends the public schools, 1883
- An argument for disfranchisement of black Virginians, 1900