The Early Republic

by Joseph J. Ellis

In April of 1789 the ink on the recently ratified Constitution was barely dry when George Washington began the trek from his Mount Vernon plantation to the national capital at New York. The public reverence usually accorded to royalty was on display throughout the weeklong trip, including a laurel crown lowered from an arch of triumph in Philadelphia, rose petals cast in Washington’s path by white-robed girls at Trenton, and a specially composed ode sung by a chorus of sailors in New York harbor to the tune of “God Save the King.” It was a rather courtly way to launch a republic.More »

Essays

“His Excel: G: Washington,” by C. W. Peale, 1787.(LC-DIG-ppmsca-17515)

George Washington and the Constitution

Author: Theodore J. Crackel Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+
Martha Washington. Gilder Lehrman Collection)

Martha Washington Creates the Role of First Lady

Author: Patricia Brady Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels:
Resolutions for amending the Constitution . . . , 1800. (GLC00927.02)

The Presidential Election of 1800: A Story of Crisis, Controversy, and Change

Author: Joanne B. Freeman Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+
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Featured Primary Sources

Hamilton’s Report . . . on the Subject of Manufactures, Dec. 5, 1791. (GLC00891)

Hamilton’s Report on the Subject of Manufactures, 1791

Creator: Alexander Hamilton Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Government and Civics Grade Levels:
John Adams to George Churchman and Jacob Lindley, January 24, 1801. (Gilder Lehr

John Adams on the abolition of slavery, 1801

Creator: John Adams Curriculum Subjects: Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+
Census results, New York State, ca. 1800. (Gilder Lehrman Collection)

Slavery in the New York State census, 1800

Creator: Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels:
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Teaching Resources

Assessing Change: Women's Lives in the American Revolutionary Era

Curriculum Subjects: Art Grade Levels: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

George Washington’s Rules of Civility

Curriculum Subjects: Grade Levels: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Our Constitution: The Bill of Rights (Grades 10-12)

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 10, 11, 12
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Multimedia

Alexander Hamilton

Speaker(s): Ron Chernow Duration: 0 seconds

Alexander Hamilton, American

Speaker(s): Richard Brookhiser Duration: 0 seconds

Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic

Speaker(s): Gordon S. Wood Duration: 0 seconds
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Interactive Features

Elizabeth Hamilton by Henry Inman, 1825 (New-York Historical Society)

Alexander Hamilton and the Creation of the United States

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Recommended Resources

Spalding, Matthew, and Patrick J. Garrity. A Sacred Union of Citizens: George Washington’s Farewell Address and the American Character. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 1996.

Freeman, Joanne B. Affairs of Honor: National Politics in the New Republic. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001.

Green, Constance M. Eli Whitney and the Birth of American Technology. New York: Longman, 1997.

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