A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents

Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.6
Word count
294K words
Chapters
30

Tags

English Originals World HistoryPolitics Public SpeakingState GovernancePresidential PapersPolitical RhetoricPolitical SpeechesAmerican PoliticsGovernance IdeaOfficial CompilationHistorical CompilationArchival Record

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents by James D. RichardsonAuthor: ,Language: English, Class: J: Political science, Release Date: Jan 4, 2005

Editor's review

This book is a compilation of presidential messages and papers edited by James D. Richardson, a public-domain historical resource within the Project Gutenberg free ebook system. Its value lies in gathering primary materials such as presidential addresses, official papers, and proclamations, allowing readers to encounter original texts of American political history directly rather than relying on second-hand accounts. Reading such compilations trains historical source awareness: noting the occasion of a text's release, its wording, and its institutional context, and understanding how executive power is expressed through public documents. It is suitable as a reference work or research base text, to be searched by theme, period, or person rather than read cover to cover. As a public-domain English ebook, its formatting and annotations are relatively simple; readers need some English reading ability and historical background knowledge.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Read the table of contents and organizational structure first to clarify scope and time span, then select readings by research theme.
  2. Read alongside an American history timeline or general history to understand the papers in their specific political context.
  3. Excerpt and annotate important proclamations, recording release background, wording characteristics, and institutional meaning.
  4. Mainly use search-based reading; when encountering unfamiliar institutional terms, consult reference works first and then reread the original text.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30

FAQ

Is this book suitable for reading cover to cover? Not very suitable. It is a compilation of papers and documents, large in scale and reference-like in organization; reading straight through easily loses focus. A more effective approach is to understand the organizational structure first, then select readings by period, person, or theme, and understand specific documents in their historical context.
What language and historical background are needed to read this book? The original is a public-domain English ebook, requiring relatively good English reading ability. Historically, it is best to have a basic understanding of American political institutions and major events from the founding to the nineteenth century; otherwise, the institutional names, procedures, and wording in the papers may be difficult to grasp.
How does it differ from ordinary American history books? Ordinary history books mostly present the author's narrative and interpretation, while this book gathers primary materials such as presidential addresses, papers, and proclamations. Readers see the formal expressions of the time and must judge background and meaning themselves; it is better suited to cultivating source awareness than to obtaining ready-made conclusions.
What should be noted when using the electronic edition? Public-domain ebooks usually have plain formatting and limited annotations. It is advisable to use reading software that supports search and bookmarks to locate documents by keyword. When citing, check the original page or paragraph location and distinguish the editor's notes from the original text.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Project Gutenberg Author

Project Gutenberg is not a single author but a nonprofit digital library founded by Michael Hart in 1971 and one of the world's earliest free ebook platforms. It relies on volunteers to digitize, proofread, and freely distribute public-domain works and is now operated by the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Its collection contains 2,692 works, mainly religious texts, epics, and story collections, including the King James Bible and the Douay-Rheims volumes, the epic Mahabharata, a literal translation of the Arabian Nights, and Danish editions of the Old and New Testaments. Public information is limited, and its nature is closer to a public-interest compiling and dissemination body; these texts are open to the public, easy to consult and circulate, and have had a profound influence on the spread of ebooks and the preservation of public-domain resources.