Historical document (with author) (MLA)

MLA-72

In-text citation

In his inaugural address in 1801, Jefferson stressed the unity of the nation: “[E]very difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. . . . We are all republicans: we are all federalists” (43).

Explain

  • If the document has an author, cite it as you would any other source with an author.
  • Most historical documents are neither italicized nor put in quotation marks.
  • If the document has section numbers, spell out labels such as “article” and “section” in the text of your paper; abbreviate them in parenthetical citations: “art.,” “sec.”
  • Brackets are used around the letter E to indicate that the writer changed a lowercase e in the source to a capital E to fit the context of the surrounding sentence. (See also Using brackets to make quotations clear.)

Works cited entry

Jefferson, Thomas. First Inaugural Address. 1801. The American Reader: Words That Moved a Nation, edited by Diane Ravitch, 2nd ed., William Morrow, 2000, pp. 79-82.

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Historical document