Documents Reflect History

Written documents reflect what has happened. Actions that may have happened in history, give historical documents a reason to be. Although actions may not have occurred to cause documents to be written, they may have been just to prevent them from happening.


The Declaration of Independence clearly states that the American colonists felt that having a political break with Great Britain would be needed. This was stated because the American colonists were getting tired of the high taxes and having their government ruled by a king living across an ocean.


The Constitution of the United States became a document because the people who formatted the Constitution wanted to make a government strong enough to secure the rights of citizens and fight back with the country against its enemies. They wanted this because they wanted to be able to stand up against anyone or anything that came against the government. One of the purposes for the Constitution being written was to make laws and establish courts that are fair. This purpose was stated because if courts are not fair and laws are not just, then it will be as if we were still under the tyrannical rule of the King of England.


The Martin Luther King Jr. “I Have A Dream” speech is a historical document. This document is known to be a new phase of the civil rights movement beginning in 1960, initiated by a new generation of African Americans and extremely supported by young liberal Caucasians. Many events occurred to give reasoning for this document to be written. Segregation took place and Martin Luther King Jr. stood up for what he believed in. He stated that the African Americans were not free and were not treated equal, as they should be. He specifically states, “There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights.”   This document was written because Martin Luther King Jr. felt the same as many other African Americans, hoping that someday all...