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E PLURIBUS UNUM —
OUT OF MANY, ONE

HISTORY OF CONGRESS
AND THE CAPITOL
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Legislative Highlights

 

The U.S. Constitution states that “The Congress shall have Power…To make all Laws.” The original laws enacted by Congress are preserved at the National Archives. This exhibit highlights some of the most historically significant laws Congress has passed throughout the nation’s history.

An Act Providing for the Expences Which May Attend Negotiations or Treaties with the Indian Tribes, August 20, 1789 Pacific Railway Act, approved July 1, 1862 Joint Resolution proposing the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, February 26, 1869

An Act Providing for the Expences Which May Attend Negotiations or Treaties with the Indian Tribes, August 20, 1789

Pacific Railway Act, approved July 1, 1862

 Joint Resolution proposing the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, February 26, 1869
Joint Resolution Proposing the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution, passed by Congress on May 13, 1912

An Act for the Release of Certain Persons from Service or Labor in the District of Columbia, April 16, 1862

“Title IX” of the Education Amendments of 1972, June 23, 1972
Joint Resolution Proposing the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution, passed by Congress on May 13, 1912

An Act for the Release of Certain Persons from Service or Labor in the District of Columbia, April 16, 1862

“Title IX” of the Education Amendments of 1972, June 23, 1972
 
History of Congress and the Capitol