The Pocket Patriot is an updated version of a vaunted national tradition: a collection of the historical documents of freedom and a sampling of the eloquent expressions of the legacy of democracy in America. It is a handbook on what has defined Americans in the past so that future generations will never forget the cost of liberty. Beginning with the contemplations of Christopher Columbus on the land he discovered, this short collection of twenty-six historical documents and three biographical sections summarizes more than five hundred years of the noblest experiment in history. It includes the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the full text of its twenty-seven amendments, and the Gettysburg Address. This is a concise survey of the foundational ideas, documents, events, and personalities of America. It also is an ideal resource for Americans contemplating the direction the nation will take into the first presidential election of the twenty-first century, the third American century.