The People's Vote

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The Results of The People's Vote: The most influential documents in American history.

logo: The People's Vote, 100 Documents that shaped AmericaThe People’s Vote, co-sponsored by the National Archives and Records Administration, National History Day, and U.S. News & World Report, invited Americans of all ages and educational backgrounds to vote for 10 of 100 milestone documents drawn mainly from the holdings of the National Archives. Learn more about the vote.

The Top 10 Milestone Documents:

  1. Declaration of Independence (1776) 29,681 votes
  2. Constitution of the United States (1787) 27,070 votes
  3. Bill of Rights (1791) 26,545 votes
  4. Louisiana Purchase Treaty (1803) 13,417 votes
  5. Emancipation Proclamation (1863) 13,086 votes
  6. 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Women's Right to Vote (1920) 12,282 votes
  7. 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery (1865) 11,789 votes
  8. Gettysburg Address (1863) 9,939 votes
  9. Civil Rights Act (1964) 9,860 votes
  10. Social Security Act (1935) 8,157 votes

Results for the Following 90 of 100 Documents

  1. Monroe Doctrine (1823) 7,795 votes
  2. Brown v. Board of Education (1954) 7,313 votes
  3. 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Civil Rights (1868) 7,081 votes
  4. Marbury v. Madison (1803) 6,155 votes
  5. Articles of Confederation (1777) 5,785 votes
  6. Homestead Act (1862) 4,540 votes
  7. 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Voting Rights (1870) 4,479 votes
  8. Marshall Plan (1948) 4,441 votes
  9. Voting Rights Act (1965) 3,993 votes
  10. Federalist Papers, No. 10 & No. 51 (1787-1788) 3,859 votes
  11. United Nations Charter (1945) 3,496 votes
  12. Treaty of Paris (1783) 3,278 votes
  13. Thomas Edison's Patent Application for the Light Bulb (1880) 3,267 votes
  14. Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) 3,095 votes
  15. President George Washington's Farewell Address (1796) 2,950 votes
  16. National Interstate and Defense Highways Act (1956) 2,743 votes
  17. 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Federal Income Tax (1913) 2,713 votes
  18. President John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address (1961) 2,708 votes
  19. Joint Address to Congress Leading to a Declaration of War Against Japan (1941) 2,663 votes
  20. Manhattan Project Notebook (1945) 2,616 votes
  21. President Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address (1865) 2,540 votes
  22. Virginia Plan (1787) 2,356 votes
  23. Social Security Act Amendments (1965) 2,234 votes
  24. Check for the Purchase of Alaska (1868) 2,219 votes
  25. Lee Resolution (1776) 2,057 votes
  26. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) 1,943 votes
  27. Servicemen's Readjustment Act (1944) 1,919 votes
  28. Northwest Ordinance (1787) 1,844 votes
  29. Federal Judiciary Act (1789) 1,828 votes
  30. Keating-Owen Child Labor Act of 1916 (1916) 1,721 votes
  31. Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) 1,657 votes
  32. Surrender of Germany (1945) 1,554 votes
  33. Act Establishing Yellowstone National Park (1872) 1,504 votes
  34. President George Washington's First Inaugural Speech (1789) 1,491 votes
  35. Pacific Railway Act (1862) 1,451 votes
  36. Surrender of Japan (1945) 1,434 votes
  37. 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913) 1,419 votes
  38. President Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points (1918) 1,388 votes
  39. Jefferson's Secret Message to Congress Regarding the Lewis & Clark Expedition (1803) 1,387 votes
  40. Treaty of Alliance with France (1778) 1,300 votes
  41. Tennessee Valley Authority Act (1933) 1,213 votes
  42. Press Release Announcing U.S. Recognition of Israel (1948) 1,195 votes
  43. Truman Doctrine (1947) 1,194 votes
  44. Patent for Cotton Gin (1794) 1,135 votes
  45. Missouri Compromise (1820) 1,120 votes
  46. President Franklin Roosevelt's Annual Message (Four Freedoms) to Congress (1941) 1,117 votes
  47. National Labor Relations Act (1935) 1,116 votes
  48. Theodore Roosevelt's Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1905) 1,091 votes
  49. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) 1,042 votes
  50. Executive Order 9981: Desegregation of the Armed Forces (1948) 1,010 votes
  51. Lend-Lease Act (1941) 954 votes
  52. Test Ban Treaty (1963) 936 votes
  53. Joint Address to Congress Leading to a Declaration of War Against Germany (1917) 895 votes
  54. General Dwight D. Eisenhower's Order of the Day (1944) 881 votes
  55. Aerial Photograph of Missiles in Cuba (1962) 875 votes
  56. President Andrew Jackson's Message to Congress 'On Indian Removal' (1830) 865 votes
  57. Articles of Agreement Relating to the Surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia (1865) 857 votes
  58. Alien and Sedition Acts (1798) 850 votes
  59. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) 845 votes
  60. Morrill Act (1862) 839 votes
  61. Original Design of the Great Seal of the United States (1782) 787 votes
  62. Interstate Commerce Act (1887) 723 votes
  63. President Franklin Roosevelt's Radio Address unveiling the second half of the New Deal (1936) 717 votes
  64. Joint Resolution to Provide for Annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States (1898) 691 votes
  65. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) 669 votes
  66. Official Program for the March on Washington (1963) 666 votes
  67. Compromise of 1850 (1850) 666 votes
  68. Executive Order 10730: Desegregation of Central High School (1957) 655 votes
  69. Transcript of John Glenn's Official Communication with the Command Center (1962) 613 votes
  70. Telegram Announcing the Surrender of Fort Sumter (1861) 604 votes
  71. Treaty of Ghent (1814) 583 votes
  72. Zimmermann Telegram (1917) 580 votes
  73. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address (1961) 567 votes
  74. Tonkin Gulf Resolution (1964) 555 votes
  75. Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) 486 votes
  76. Executive Order 10924: Establishment of the Peace Corps. (1961) 482 votes
  77. Senate Resolution 301: Censure of Senator Joseph McCarthy (1954) 455 votes
  78. Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) 440 votes
  79. Wade-Davis Bill (1864) 405 votes
  80. Dawes Act (1887) 372 votes
  81. Executive Order 9066: Resulting in the Relocation of Japanese (1942) 334 votes
  82. Pendleton Act (1883) 294 votes
  83. Executive Order 8802: Prohibition of Discrimination in the Defense Industry (1941) 284 votes
  84. National Industrial Recovery Act (1933) 279 votes
  85. War Department General Order 143: Creation of the U.S. Colored Troops (1863) 257 votes
  86. Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) 251 votes
  87. Boulder Canyon Project Act (1928) 213 votes
  88. Platt Amendment (1903) 140 votes
  89. Armistice Agreement for the Restoration of the South Korean State (1953) 136 votes
  90. De Lôme Letter (1898) 97 votes

Read the remarks of the Archivist of the United States, announcing the results of The People's Vote.

The vote is part of a larger project created by the National Archives and National History Day in collaboration with USA Freedom Corps titled Our Documents: A National Initiative on American History, Civics and Service. The purpose of Our Documents is to provide programs like The People’s Vote to engage Americans in a better understanding of the records that shaped our country.

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