PRAISE FOR A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES   "Richard Heffner has assembled a portable canon of American documents that take us across the depth and breadth of our national experience. Here is fertile soil for exploring our past and imagining our future. Present crises notwithstanding, you cannot spend time within these pages and be skeptical of our capacity to overcome, survive, and thrive in the endless, vexing, and robust pursuit of a more perfect union."-Bill Moyers   "For those who want the raw materials of American history, here is the invaluable source. An indispensable contribution to the understanding of our heritage."-Robert A. Caro, author of the Pulitzer  Prizewinning The Power Broker and the #1 New York Times bestseller Master of the Senate   "Whether you are a student of American history, a casual browser, or a speaker in need of a timely quote, you will benefit from having ready access to this excellent collection of important documents from Tom Paine's Common Sense to Bill Clinton's 1998 State of the Union Address."-Derek Bok, Emeritus President and the 300th Anniversary University Professor, Harvard University   "Words make history, and Richard Heffner has assembled the most important words that have defined America's journey from the Revolution to the present.

Imaginatively selected and judiciously annotated, the documents in this collection capture the full range of the nation's colorful, consequential, and often contentious history. Simply the best such anthology available."-David M. Kennedy, author of the Pulitzer Prizewinning Freedom from Fear   "A superb collection of documents, skillfully edited, with an edifying introduction to each chapter. An indispensable reference work for history buffs."-Kenneth M. Stampp, author of The Causes of the Civil War   " A Documentary History of the United States presents the vital documents of American history with incisive and informed commentary-an invaluable resource for the student, the teacher, and the history buff."-Arthur Schlesinger, Jr .

, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Awardwinning author of A Thousand Days and A Life in the 20th Century.