Richard Nixon photoshopped to be wearing a "Pardon Me! Gerald..." button.

The Pardon of President Nixon: Annotated

President Ford’s unconditional pardon of Richard Nixon created political controversy. It also tarnished Ford’s own reputation with the American public.
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 while Martin Luther King and others look on

The Voting Rights Act 1965: Annotated

The passing of the Voting Rights Act in August 1965 prohibited the use of Jim Crow laws and discriminatory tests to disenfranchise Black voters.
Harvey Milk at Gay Pride, San Jose 1978

Harvey Milk’s Gay Freedom Day Speech: Annotated

Five months before his assassination in 1978, Harvey Milk called on the president of the United States to defend the rights of gay and lesbian Americans.
Photograph: Chinese workers  on the Oregon and California Railroad, circa 1888.  

Source: Getty

The Chinese Exclusion Act: Annotated

The passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 marked the first time the United States prohibited immigration based on ethnicity and national origin.
From the cover of New Women's Times

The Combahee River Collective Statement: Annotated

The Black feminist collective's 1977 statement has been a bedrock document for academics, organizers and theorists for 45 years.
Dr Martin Luther King Jr (1929 - 1968) waves to the crowd of more than 200,000 people gathered on the Mall after delivering his 'I Have a Dream' speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Washington DC, 28th August 1963.

“I Have a Dream”: Annotated

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s iconic speech, annotated with relevant scholarship on the literary, political, and religious roots of his words.
A print based on David Gilmour Blythe's fanciful painting of Lincoln writing the Emancipation Proclamation

The Emancipation Proclamation: Annotated

Abraham Lincoln proclaimed freedom for enslaved people in America on January 1, 1863. Today, we've annotated the Emancipation Proclamation for readers.
Facsimile of the original draft of the United States Declaration of Independence with images of the signers around the border.

The Declaration of Independence: Annotated

Related links to free scholarly context on JSTOR for the foundational document in American government.