1 Alabama | The scarce first printing of the Alabama Constitution

2 American Revolution — Rev. Elias B. Hillard | Photographs of Revolutionary War veterans

3 American Anti-Slavery Society | An important founding document of the American abolitionist movement

4 Articles of Confederation | "The said states hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship"

5 (Burr, Aaron) | "Probably the rarest and best account of the trial"

6 (Burr, Aaron) | Jefferson accuses the former Vice President of treason

7 California | The first printing of the California Constitution

8 (Chase, Samuel) | An important precedent for independence of the judiciary

9 (Chase, Samuel) | Another work on Chase's landmark trial reinforcing the independence of the judiciary

10 Choctaw Nation | "The earliest known printing of Choctaw laws …"

11 Confederate States of America | Including the first printings of the first two versions of the Confederate constitution

12 Connecticut | The end of church-run states in America

13 Continental Congress | An important congressional precursors of the Declaration of Independence

14 Continental Congress | "Read with Candour: Judge with Impartiality."

15 Continental Congress | With an early printing of the Declaration of Independence

16 Continental Congress | The first collected edition of the state constitutions

17 Dakota Territory | A scarce copy of the proceedings of a one-day convention

18 Dallas, Alexander J. | An important milestone in American legal publishing

19 Declaration of Independence | The first book-form printing of the Declaration of Independence

20 Declaration of Independence | The first printing in magazine form

21 Declaration of Independence | The first printing of the Declaration of Independence in Britain

22 Declaration of Independence | A fine copy on paper of the first true facsimile of the engrossed Declaration of Independence

23 Farrar, Timothy | A landmark Supreme Court ruling on the Contract Clause

24 Florida | The first constitution, which built on the federal Bill of Rights

25 Georgia | A revised constitution, offering a better balance of power

26 (Hamilton, Alexander, James Madison, and John Jay) | Praised by George Washington as a "work [that] will merit the notice of Posterity"

27 Hawaii | The transition from an autocratic kingdom to a constitutional monarchy

28 Kansas | The Wyandot Constitution of free Kansas

29 (Magna Carta) | The first American printing

30 Massachusetts | Urging the establishment of a state constitution

31 Massachusetts | "The injustice and cruelty of Britain has driven us to a Declaration of Independence"

32 Mississippi | One of the first states to have an elected judiciary

33 Monroe, James | First printing of the Monroe Doctrine

34 New York | Gulian C. Verplanck's copy of the first constitution of the state of New York

35 Olive Branch Petition | The last concerted effort on the part of the Continental Congress to reconcile with Great Britain

36 Olive Branch Petition | A rare broadside, with the King's speech acknowledging American independence

37 Parliamentary Act. Reign of George III [The Stamp Act] | Government without consent

38 Parliamentary Act. Reign of George III | The Repeal

39 Parliamentary Act. Reign of George III | The Indemnification

40 Parliamentary Act. Reign of George III | A final attempt to crush the Revolution by economic sanctions

41 Parliamentary Acts | A collection of approximately 26 Parliamentary Acts, mostly relating to North America

42 Pennsylvania | The first independent state constitution issued after the Declaration of Independence

43 Peters, Richard | The Supreme Court rules that the Cherokee Nation is not a sovereign nation

44 Randolph, Edmund | A cornerstone work in the establishment of the judiciary branch of the government

45 Scott, Dred — Benjamin C. Howard | "No Rights Which the White Man was Bound to Respect"

46 South Carolina | First edition of an important compendium of laws and statutes

47 Sprengel, Mathias Christian | The first summary of the American Revolution to appear in German after the war

48 Taney, Roger B. | A letter to John Kerr, discussing President John Adams and the Quasi-War with France