Comments on: Milestone Documents of U.S. History

Milestone Documents of U.S. History

marxchivist — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 15:16:41 -0800

100 Milestone Documents. High-quality viewable and downloadable documents of American History, from 1776 to 1965. Of course the usual suspects are available, but you can also see items like the Patent for the Cotton Gin (1794) and the Check for the Purchase of Alaska (1868). Also downloadable PDFs, transcripts, and background information on each document. (Warning: flash)

By: caddis

caddis — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 15:29:16 -0800

Very cool, MarxArchivist (oops, did I spell that right?)!

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 15:44:55 -0800

Nice, thanks. The Declaration of Independence and Constitution are amazing, powerful reads. It's satisfying to be able to see the original docs, all handwritten, or read the transcripts.

By: grouse

grouse — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 15:47:59 -0800

That's one hell of a check.

By: login

Nice. Thanks Marxchivist.

By: 1016

1016 — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 17:31:18 -0800

About $95 million in today's money, grouse...given that my tiny house in northern Virginia is assessed at about a half million, and there's no gold or oil on my my really tiny lot, I'd say that was money well spent. All of Alaska for all the houses in about 5 blocks of my house? Yeah, I'd do it! That is a very, very cool site, Marxchivist.

By: grapefruitmoon

grapefruitmoon — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 18:07:00 -0800

This is awesome. I just wish I could zoom in on some of the handwritten pages. Oh well. There's something very powerful about reading Lincoln and Washington's speeches in their own handwriting - probably as close as we'll get to a "reading" in their own voices. Brings out a bit of my inner patriot.

By: Doohickie

Doohickie — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 20:05:36 -0800

One helluva damned fine post, Marxchivist! My wife is teaching American history starting this fall; it's bookmarked for her future reference.

By: marxchivist

marxchivist — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 20:18:06 -0800

I'm glad people enjoyed this, y'all are quite welcome. I wanted to complain about a bunch of the crap that has been posted here lately, but I thought I'd try and find a decent link to post instead.

By: Doohickie

Doohickie — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 21:25:47 -0800

kudos, marxchivist. You rock.

By: XQUZYPHYR

XQUZYPHYR — Sun, 19 Jun 2005 05:20:49 -0800

I love the way you can move the close-ups around. However, I can't help but point out the original drawing for the Great Seal looks like something out of Napoleon Dynamite's sketchbook.

By: mdn

mdn — Sun, 19 Jun 2005 16:25:17 -0800

wow, the declaration looks so faded and worn... it's striking how inevitably things deteriorate, even under such close protection. It's also interesting looking at the change in style over time, from the handwritten calligraphy to the neat typewritten column. I guess any historical documents now would be done in microsoft word...

By: kjh

kjh — Sun, 19 Jun 2005 16:36:42 -0800

This is fricken cool as hell. Kudos to the poster.

By: odinsdream

odinsdream — Sun, 19 Jun 2005 19:28:01 -0800

Nice interface, too. Great link!

By: marxchivist

marxchivist — Sun, 19 Jun 2005 19:40:37 -0800

XQUZYPHYR: the declaration looks so faded and worn A couple interesting things from NARA's website: "One later theory as to why the Declaration was aging so soon after its creation stems from the common 18th-century practice of taking "press copies." Press copies were made by placing a damp sheet of thin paper on a manuscript and pressing it until a portion of the ink was transferred. The thin paper copy was retained in the same manner as a modern carbon copy. The ink was reimposed on a copper plate, which was then etched so that copies could be run off the plate on a press. This "wet transfer" method may have been used by William J. Stone when in 1820 he was commissioned by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams to make a facsimile of the entire Declaration, signatures as well as text." and "The Declaration and Washington's commission as commander in chief were mounted together in a single frame and hung in a white painted hall opposite a window offering exposure to sunlight. There they were to remain on exhibit for 35 years, even after the Patent Office separated from the State Department to become administratively a part of the Interior Department. This prolonged exposure to sunlight accelerated the deterioration of the ink and parchment of the Declaration, which was approaching 100 years of age toward the end of this period."