Quick Retrieval of the Text of U.S. Treaties
Over the years, U.S. treaties have been published in variety of different publications, some official and some unofficial. HeinOnline has scanned the majority of these publications, allowing you to quickly retrieve most U.S. treaties by citation using the:
- HeinOnline U.S. Treaty IndexTo retrieve a U.S. treaty, set the dropdown to "Publication" and then input any of the treaty's citations, such as 28 UST 2088, 62 Stat. 2679, 4 Bevans 119, or 14 UNTS 185. For TIAS citations, set the dropdown to "Treaty Number" and then input the TIAS number only. For example, to retrieve TIAS 1808, input 1808. Generally, the Bluebook requires (in order of preference) citations to U.S.T. (1950-1984) or Stat. (1778-1950), then T.I.A.S. (1945-present) or T.S. (1795-1945) or E.A.S. (1929-1946), then U.N.T.S. (treaties deposited with the U.N.)
For a video how to, see the Video tab.
For more details on what each citation means, see below.
Current Official U.S. Treaty Publications: T.I.A.S. and U.S.T.
Under its current system, the U.S. first publishes treaties as individual pamphlets assigned Treaties and Other International Acts Series (T.I.A.S.) numbers, then republishes them more permanently in U.S. Treaties and Other International Agreements (U.S.T.), a large set of print volumes publishing U.S. treaties by date.
- Treaties and Other International Acts Series (T.I.A.S.)
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Call Number: Main Stacks KZ235.3 .U551Publication Date: 1984-2006 in print; 1982- present onlineTreaties and Other International Acts Series (T.I.A.S.) numbers are assigned to individual pamphlets publishing advice and consent treaties and executive agreements from 1945 to the present. For many years, the government struggled to fund the publication of T.I.A.S. and, as a result, it could take 8 or 9 years after a treaty was entered into for it to published as a T.I.A.S. pamphlet. In 2006, the government stopped publishing T.I.A.S. pamphlets in print and now posts them online only on the Department of State's website. T.I.A.S. has now caught up with all but the most recent treaties and, as of August 2017, the Department of State's website contains T.I.A.S. pamphlets up to May 2017. - U.S. Treaties and Other International Agreements (U.S.T.)
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Call Number: Main Stacks KZ235.3 .U55Publication Date: 1950-1984U.S.T. is a large set of print volumes that publishes U.S. treaties by date. It is intended to provide a more permanent location to republish treaties originally published as individual T.I.A.S. pamphlets. However, the government has continually struggled to fund the publication of U.S.T. and, as a result, it can take decades after a treaty is entered into for it to be published in U.S.T. The most recent U.S.T. volume was published in 2003 and contains treaties from 1984. Any future U.S.T. volumes will be published online only.
Early Official U.S. Treaty Publications: T.S., E.A.S., and Stat.
Prior to adopting its current system, the U.S. first published treaties as individual pamphlets assigned Treaty Series (T.S.) or Executive Agreement Series (E.A.S.) numbers, then republished them more permanently in the Statutes at Large (Stat.), a large set of print volumes that publishes U.S. statutes by date.
- Treaty Series (T.S.)Call Number: OnlineTreaty Series (T.S.) numbers are assigned to individual pamphlets publishing advice and consent treaties from 1795 to 1945 and executive agreements from 1795 to 1927. Early individual pamphlets were unnumbered or inconsistently numbered. Beginning in 1908, the U.S. Department of State retrospectively assigned previously published pamphlets T.S. Nos. 1 through 488 and sequentially numbered pamphlets going forward, starting with T.S. No. 489. HeinOnline provides scans of selected pamphlets from 1902 (T.S. 491-A) to 1944 (T.S. 994.)
- Executive Agreement Series (E.A.S.)Call Number: OnlineExecutive Agreement Series (E.A.S.) numbers are assigned to individual pamphlets publishing executive agreements from 1929 (E.A.S. 1) to 1946 (E.A.S. 506). HeinOnline provides complete scans of all E.A.S. pamphlets.
- Statutes at Large- PDF and Print
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Call Number: 2nd Floor Row 202AStatutes at Large (Stat.) is primarily known for publishing U.S. statutes by date. However, until 1950, it also served to permanently publish U.S. treaties. Treaties made from 1778 to 1845 are published in Volume 7 (treaties with Indian nations) and Volume 8 (treaties with other countries.) Later treaties are scattered throughout subsequent volumes but Volume 64 (the final volume to publish treaties) includes a comprehensive index to their locations. - List of Treaties and Other International Agreements Contained in the United States Statutes at Large64 Stat. B1107 (1950) provides a comprehensive list of all treaties and other international agreements published in the Statutes at Large, including the volume and page number of the Statutes at Large where their text is published and their assigned T.S. or E.A.S. number.
Current Unofficial U.S. Treaty Publications: KAV, C.T.I.A., and I.L.M.
Modern U.S. treaties may also be unofficially published in one or more of the following sources:
- U.S. Treaties and Other International Agreements Current Service (KAV Agreements)
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Call Number: Media Center JX171 .U66KAV agreement numbers are assigned to treaties collected and published by Hein and law librarian Igor I. Kavass as part of their ongoing project to provide access to treaties that had not been published or not yet been published in T.I.A.S. Kav agreements are published in microform as U.S. Treaties and Other International Agreements Current Service and on HeinOnline as Kav Agreements. - Consolidated Treaties & International Agreements (C.T.I.A.)Call Number: Main Stacks KZ235.5 .U55Unofficial full-text compilation of U.S. treaties, published by Oxford University Press.
- International Legal Materials
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Call Number: 2nd Floor Row 248BPublication Date: 1962-Journal providing text of selected international law documents, including treaties, decisions of international courts and arbitral tribunals, and domestic cases and statutes on international law issues. ILM was founded by the American Society of International Law in 1962 to provide attorneys with access to primary source documents of particular significance to international law. Each document is accompanied by an explanation of its context and significance.
Early Unofficial U.S. Treaty Publications: Bevans, Malloy, Miller, and Wiktor
A few early international law scholars undertook projects to compile print collections of historical U.S. treaties. Most of these collections have since been scanned and made available on HeinOnline. Each collection is generally cited and referred to by the name of its compiler (e.g. Bevans, Malloy, and Miller.)
The most comprehensive collection is:
- Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States of America, 1776-1949 by
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Call Number: Law Main Stacks KZ236 1968Publication Date: 1776-1949
Earlier precursors to Bevans were:
- Treaties, Conventions, International Acts, Protocols and Agreements by
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Call Number: Law Main Stacks KZ236 1910Publication Date: 1776-1937 - Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States of America by
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Call Number: Law Main Stacks KZ236 1931Publication Date: 1776-1863
Generally, treaties published in Malloy and Miller were subsequently republished in Bevans.
Additional treaties not included in Bevans, Malloy, or Miller may be found in:
- Unperfected Treaties of the United States of America, 1776-1976 byCall Number: Law Main Stacks KZ236 1976Collection of treaties negotiated by the U.S. that never successfully entered into force.