The People's Vote

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

The 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

11. Monroe Doctrine (1823) 7,795 votes
12. Brown v. Board of Education (1954) 7,313 votes
13. 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Civil Rights (1868) 7,081 votes
14. Marbury v. Madison (1803) 6,155 votes
15. Articles of Confederation (1777) 5,785 votes
16. Homestead Act (1862) 4,540 votes
17. 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Voting Rights (1870) 4,479 votes
18. Marshall Plan (1948) 4,441 votes
19. Voting Rights Act (1965) 3,993 votes
20. Federalist Papers, No. 10 & No. 51 (1787-1788) 3,859 votes
21. United Nations Charter (1945) 3,496 votes
22. Treaty of Paris (1783) 3,278 votes
23. Thomas Edison's Patent Application for the Light Bulb (1880) 3,267 votes
24. Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) 3,095 votes
25. President George Washington's Farewell Address (1796) 2,950 votes
26. National Interstate and Defense Highways Act (1956) 2,743 votes
27. 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Federal Income Tax (1913) 2,713 votes
28. President John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address (1961) 2,708 votes
29. Joint Address to Congress Leading to a Declaration of War Against Japan (1941) 2,663 votes
30. Manhattan Project Notebook (1945) 2,616 votes
31. President Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address (1865) 2,540 votes
32. Virginia Plan (1787) 2,356 votes
33. Social Security Act Amendments (1965) 2,234 votes
34. Check for the Purchase of Alaska (1868) 2,219 votes
35. Lee Resolution (1776) 2,057 votes
36. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) 1,943 votes
37. Servicemen's Readjustment Act (1944) 1,919 votes
38. Northwest Ordinance (1787) 1,844 votes
39. Federal Judiciary Act (1789) 1,828 votes
40. Keating-Owen Child Labor Act of 1916 (1916) 1,721 votes
41. Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) 1,657 votes
42. Surrender of Germany (1945) 1,554 votes
43. Act Establishing Yellowstone National Park (1872) 1,504 votes
44. President George Washington's First Inaugural Speech (1789) 1,491 votes
45. Pacific Railway Act (1862) 1,451 votes
46. Surrender of Japan (1945) 1,434 votes
47. 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913) 1,419 votes
48. President Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points (1918) 1,388 votes
49. Jefferson's Secret Message to Congress Regarding the Lewis & Clark Expedition (1803) 1,387 votes
50. Treaty of Alliance with France (1778) 1,300 votes
51. Tennessee Valley Authority Act (1933) 1,213 votes
52. Press Release Announcing U.S. Recognition of Israel (1948) 1,195 votes
53. Truman Doctrine (1947) 1,194 votes
54. Patent for Cotton Gin (1794) 1,135 votes
55. Missouri Compromise (1820) 1,120 votes
56. President Franklin Roosevelt's Annual Message (Four Freedoms) to Congress (1941) 1,117 votes
57. National Labor Relations Act (1935) 1,116 votes
58. Theodore Roosevelt's Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1905) 1,091 votes
59. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) 1,042 votes
60. Executive Order 9981: Desegregation of the Armed Forces (1948) 1,010 votes
61. Lend-Lease Act (1941) 954 votes
62. Test Ban Treaty (1963) 936 votes
63. Joint Address to Congress Leading to a Declaration of War Against Germany (1917) 895 votes
64. General Dwight D. Eisenhower's Order of the Day (1944) 881 votes
65. Aerial Photograph of Missiles in Cuba (1962) 875 votes
66. President Andrew Jackson's Message to Congress 'On Indian Removal' (1830) 865 votes
67. Articles of Agreement Relating to the Surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia (1865) 857 votes
68. Alien and Sedition Acts (1798) 850 votes
69. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) 845 votes
70. Morrill Act (1862) 839 votes
71. Original Design of the Great Seal of the United States (1782) 787 votes
72. Interstate Commerce Act (1887) 723 votes
73. President Franklin Roosevelt's Radio Address unveiling the second half of the New Deal (1936) 717 votes
74. Joint Resolution to Provide for Annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States (1898) 691 votes
75. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) 669 votes
76. Official Program for the March on Washington (1963) 666 votes
77. Compromise of 1850 (1850) 666 votes
78. Executive Order 10730: Desegregation of Central High School (1957) 655 votes
79. Transcript of John Glenn's Official Communication with the Command Center (1962) 613 votes
80. Telegram Announcing the Surrender of Fort Sumter (1861) 604 votes
81. Treaty of Ghent (1814) 583 votes
82. Zimmermann Telegram (1917) 580 votes
83. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address (1961) 567 votes
84. Tonkin Gulf Resolution (1964) 555 votes
85. Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) 486 votes
86. Executive Order 10924: Establishment of the Peace Corps. (1961) 482 votes
87. Senate Resolution 301: Censure of Senator Joseph McCarthy (1954) 455 votes
88. Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) 440 votes
89. Wade-Davis Bill (1864) 405 votes
90. Dawes Act (1887) 372 votes
91. Executive Order 9066: Resulting in the Relocation of Japanese (1942) 334 votes
92. Pendleton Act (1883) 294 votes
93. Executive Order 8802: Prohibition of Discrimination in the Defense Industry (1941) 284 votes
94. National Industrial Recovery Act (1933) 279 votes
95. War Department General Order 143: Creation of the U.S. Colored Troops (1863) 257 votes
96. Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) 251 votes
97. Boulder Canyon Project Act (1928) 213 votes
98. Platt Amendment (1903) 140 votes
99. Armistice Agreement for the Restoration of the South Korean State (1953) 136 votes
100. 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.