Declaration of Independence
Voted #1 Milestone Document

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

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.

Here are the results

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

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

The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. It was engrossed on parchment and on August 2, 1776, the delegates began signing it.

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