Foundations of American Democracy

Reading the founding documents of the United States and understanding their historical context can help us to consider vital questions about governance and democracy in present day America. In Foundations of American Democracy, the 250-year evolution of democratic republicanism is examined through the lens of twenty-one critical documents from our nation’s past.

The reader is divided into three parts. Starting with the Declaration of Independence, “Foundations” explores documents that laid the groundwork on which America was built. “A More Perfect Union” offers selections related to the American Civil War and Reconstruction. And “The Gospel of Freedom” highlights the challenges and struggles faced by generations of citizens who demanded participation and representation in our democracy. The authors of these works wrestled with some of the most difficult questions of their time, creating prose that is in turn eloquent, anguished, and passionate about the challenges of forming “a more perfect Union.” Each chapter includes a concise introduction, one primary document, questions for discussion, and a section on further readings. The reader includes well-known documents such as the Federalist Papers and the Emancipation Proclamation as well as other works that broaden our view of America’s ongoing democratic experiment.

Eleven historians from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill contributed to this volume which was developed as a resource for the foundations of American democracy requirement across the University of North Carolina System.