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:
- Declaration of Independence (1776) 29,681 votes
- Constitution of the United States (1787) 27,070 votes
- Bill of Rights (1791) 26,545 votes
- Louisiana Purchase Treaty (1803) 13,417 votes
- Emancipation Proclamation (1863) 13,086 votes
- 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Women's Right to Vote (1920) 12,282 votes
- 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery (1865) 11,789 votes
- Gettysburg Address (1863) 9,939 votes
- Civil Rights Act (1964) 9,860 votes
- Social Security Act (1935) 8,157 votes
Results for the Following 90 of 100 Documents
- Monroe Doctrine (1823) 7,795 votes
- Brown v. Board of Education (1954) 7,313 votes
- 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Civil Rights (1868) 7,081 votes
- Marbury v. Madison (1803) 6,155 votes
- Articles of Confederation (1777) 5,785 votes
- Homestead Act (1862) 4,540 votes
- 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Voting Rights (1870) 4,479 votes
- Marshall Plan (1948) 4,441 votes
- Voting Rights Act (1965) 3,993 votes
- Federalist Papers, No. 10 & No. 51 (1787-1788) 3,859 votes
- United Nations Charter (1945) 3,496 votes
- Treaty of Paris (1783) 3,278 votes
- Thomas Edison's Patent Application for the Light Bulb (1880) 3,267 votes
- Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) 3,095 votes
- President George Washington's Farewell Address (1796) 2,950 votes
- National Interstate and Defense Highways Act (1956) 2,743 votes
- 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Federal Income Tax (1913) 2,713 votes
- President John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address (1961) 2,708 votes
- Joint Address to Congress Leading to a Declaration of War Against Japan (1941) 2,663 votes
- Manhattan Project Notebook (1945) 2,616 votes
- President Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address (1865) 2,540 votes
- Virginia Plan (1787) 2,356 votes
- Social Security Act Amendments (1965) 2,234 votes
- Check for the Purchase of Alaska (1868) 2,219 votes
- Lee Resolution (1776) 2,057 votes
- Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) 1,943 votes
- Servicemen's Readjustment Act (1944) 1,919 votes
- Northwest Ordinance (1787) 1,844 votes
- Federal Judiciary Act (1789) 1,828 votes
- Keating-Owen Child Labor Act of 1916 (1916) 1,721 votes
- Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) 1,657 votes
- Surrender of Germany (1945) 1,554 votes
- Act Establishing Yellowstone National Park (1872) 1,504 votes
- President George Washington's First Inaugural Speech (1789) 1,491 votes
- Pacific Railway Act (1862) 1,451 votes
- Surrender of Japan (1945) 1,434 votes
- 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913) 1,419 votes
- President Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points (1918) 1,388 votes
- Jefferson's Secret Message to Congress Regarding the Lewis & Clark Expedition (1803) 1,387 votes
- Treaty of Alliance with France (1778) 1,300 votes
- Tennessee Valley Authority Act (1933) 1,213 votes
- Press Release Announcing U.S. Recognition of Israel (1948) 1,195 votes
- Truman Doctrine (1947) 1,194 votes
- Patent for Cotton Gin (1794) 1,135 votes
- Missouri Compromise (1820) 1,120 votes
- President Franklin Roosevelt's Annual Message (Four Freedoms) to Congress (1941) 1,117 votes
- National Labor Relations Act (1935) 1,116 votes
- Theodore Roosevelt's Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1905) 1,091 votes
- Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) 1,042 votes
- Executive Order 9981: Desegregation of the Armed Forces (1948) 1,010 votes
- Lend-Lease Act (1941) 954 votes
- Test Ban Treaty (1963) 936 votes
- Joint Address to Congress Leading to a Declaration of War Against Germany (1917) 895 votes
- General Dwight D. Eisenhower's Order of the Day (1944) 881 votes
- Aerial Photograph of Missiles in Cuba (1962) 875 votes
- President Andrew Jackson's Message to Congress 'On Indian Removal' (1830) 865 votes
- Articles of Agreement Relating to the Surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia (1865) 857 votes
- Alien and Sedition Acts (1798) 850 votes
- McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) 845 votes
- Morrill Act (1862) 839 votes
- Original Design of the Great Seal of the United States (1782) 787 votes
- Interstate Commerce Act (1887) 723 votes
- President Franklin Roosevelt's Radio Address unveiling the second half of the New Deal (1936) 717 votes
- Joint Resolution to Provide for Annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States (1898) 691 votes
- Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) 669 votes
- Official Program for the March on Washington (1963) 666 votes
- Compromise of 1850 (1850) 666 votes
- Executive Order 10730: Desegregation of Central High School (1957) 655 votes
- Transcript of John Glenn's Official Communication with the Command Center (1962) 613 votes
- Telegram Announcing the Surrender of Fort Sumter (1861) 604 votes
- Treaty of Ghent (1814) 583 votes
- Zimmermann Telegram (1917) 580 votes
- President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address (1961) 567 votes
- Tonkin Gulf Resolution (1964) 555 votes
- Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) 486 votes
- Executive Order 10924: Establishment of the Peace Corps. (1961) 482 votes
- Senate Resolution 301: Censure of Senator Joseph McCarthy (1954) 455 votes
- Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) 440 votes
- Wade-Davis Bill (1864) 405 votes
- Dawes Act (1887) 372 votes
- Executive Order 9066: Resulting in the Relocation of Japanese (1942) 334 votes
- Pendleton Act (1883) 294 votes
- Executive Order 8802: Prohibition of Discrimination in the Defense Industry (1941) 284 votes
- National Industrial Recovery Act (1933) 279 votes
- War Department General Order 143: Creation of the U.S. Colored Troops (1863) 257 votes
- Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) 251 votes
- Boulder Canyon Project Act (1928) 213 votes
- Platt Amendment (1903) 140 votes
- Armistice Agreement for the Restoration of the South Korean State (1953) 136 votes
- 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.