Many reference works offer compilations of critical documents covering individual liberty, local autonomy, constitutional order, and other issues that helped to shape the American political tradition. Yet few of these works are available in a form suitable for classroom use, and traditional textbooks give short shrift to these important issues. This book provides, in a single volume, critical, original documents revealing the character of American discourse on the nature and importance of local government, the purposes of federal union, and the role of religion and tradition in forming America’s drive for liberty. By bringing together key original documents and other writings that explain cultural, religious and historical concerns, this volume gives students, teachers, and general readers an effective way to begin examining the diversity of issues and influences that characterise American history.