100 Documents that Shaped America

September 29, 2003 10:41 AM

100 Documents that Shaped America. (Via Fark, of all places.)
posted by PrinceValium (18 comments total)

Wow, what a great resource! thanks!
posted by dejah420 at 11:10 AM on September 29, 2003

See also Salon's series, "Documents of Freedom."
posted by homunculus at 11:12 AM on September 29, 2003

Very interesting...

Now we can commence with the "I can't believe the left out...'s"

I'll throw one out--Babe Ruth's first Yankee's contract. Harry Frazee sells a young pitcher and sometimes outfielder to Boston for cash to help finance "No No Nannette." Ruth gives up pitching for good at the behest of his new owners, the Yankees become a dynasty, and the Red Sox never win a World Series again. Also launches the career of the most well known American celebrity of the first part of the century. (Take that, "Boulder Canyon Project Act").
posted by cadastral at 11:29 AM on September 29, 2003

Now we can commence with the "I can't believe the left out...'s"

... The Articles of Impeachment of Richard M. Nixon
posted by pardonyou? at 11:37 AM on September 29, 2003

No Roe v. Wade decision?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:50 AM on September 29, 2003

What about the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions?
posted by trox at 11:56 AM on September 29, 2003

And Gone With the Wind?
posted by brownpau at 12:09 PM on September 29, 2003

The National Archives also has a site devoted to this topic: OurDocuments.gov.
posted by jengod at 12:10 PM on September 29, 2003

next up... boobies and weenies on mefi! (kidding, kidding!)
posted by asterisk at 12:11 PM on September 29, 2003

Harry Frazee sells a young pitcher and sometimes outfielder to Boston for cash to help finance "No No Nannette."

The Broadway Myth

Over the years the myth has grown that Harry Frazee sold off Babe Ruth to finance one of his plays, No, No Nanette. This is not true, that play debuted five years after the sale of Ruth. In addition it should be noted that Frazee was a clever businessman in many ways, producing more than 40 successful plays.

I might also add that Ruth's innings pitched for the Sox had been going down for three years (326.1, 166.1, 133.1) and he almost certainly would have been forced to concentrate on hitting there as well.

If we're going to include a baseball document (which I think is an excellent idea), I'd vote for the 1973 collective bargaining agreement that doomed the old reserve system and created the modern baseball world.
posted by languagehat at 12:13 PM on September 29, 2003

Ok this is ridiculous.
I can't believe they left out the April 1975 issue of Playboy.
posted by jeremias at 12:49 PM on September 29, 2003

languagehat: Many thanks for the correction, I'm glad I won't be repeating that one.

I was actually thinking of the reserve clause before deciding on Ruth... (my mind tends to drift to baseball around this time of year). Even though Baseball unionized quite a bit later than other institutions, I think it's significant.

Here's a transcript of Curt Flood's famous letter to Commissioner Kuhn that I'll nominate for inclusion. I've always thought it was rather elegant.
posted by cadastral at 1:28 PM on September 29, 2003

Where is the U.S. Patriot Act of 2001? That definitely shaped America.
posted by Keyser Soze at 1:31 PM on September 29, 2003

Thanks for posting this - I came across a few documents I didn't have. The Federalist has a nice collection as well.
posted by revbrian at 2:59 PM on September 29, 2003

[this is excellent!]
posted by madamjujujive at 5:52 PM on September 29, 2003

Very nice link, PrinceV. Thanks from those of us who are American history enthusiasts.

p.s. This has nothing to do with shaping the country, but whenever I think about famous American documents, I always remember General Custer’s life insurance policy.
posted by LeLiLo at 8:21 PM on September 29, 2003

The start date of 1750 is pretty arbitrary, given that it means John Locke -- the 'life, liberty and property' bloke -- doesn't make it in. Oh well.
posted by riviera at 3:54 PM on October 1, 2003

This thread is breathing its last, but I just came across a document that definitely belongs here—not only for its historical significance (it legalized birth control in America) but for perhaps the best name that ever graced a legal document: United States v. One Package of Japanese Pessaries, 13 F. Supp. 334 (E.D.N.Y. 1936), aff'd 86 F. 2d 737 (2d Cir. 1936)
posted by languagehat at 5:58 PM on October 2, 2003