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Just after the devastating fighting in Virginia at the Battle of the Wilderness and prior to the Battle of Spotsylvania in 1864, Confederate General Robert E. Lee drafted this inspirational message to his troops on the back of a...
Ratifying the Thirteenth Amendment, 1866
President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves only in Confederate states still at war with the Union on January 1, 1863, and as a wartime order, it could be reversed by subsequent presidential proclamation,...
Our Constitution: The Bill of Rights (Grades 7–9)
View the Constitution in the Gilder Lehrman Collection by clicking here and here . For a resource on the variations between a draft and the final version of the Constitution of the United State, click here . Unit Objective These...
The Articles of Confederation, 1777
A day after appointing a committee to write the Declaration of Independence, the Second Continental Congress named another committee to write the Articles of Confederation. The members worked from June 1776 until November 1777, when...
Our Constitution: The Bill of Rights (Grades 4–6)
View the Constitution in our collection by clicking here and here . For a resource on the variations between a draft and the final version of the Constitution click here . For additional resources click here . Unit Objective This...
Our Constitution: The Bill of Rights (Grades 10–12)
View the Constitution in the Gilder Lehrman Collection by clicking here and here . For a resource on the variations between a draft and the final version of the United States Constitution click here . For additional resources click...
A proposed Thirteenth Amendment to prevent secession, 1861
In the wake of the presidential election of 1860 that brought Abraham Lincoln to the White House, the slaveholding states of the American South, led by South Carolina, began withdrawing from the nation. In the midst of this...
A former Confederate officer on slavery and the Civil War, 1907
How can a soldier be proud of the country he defends while at the same time opposed to the cause he is fighting for? John S. Mosby, the renowned Confederate partisan leader, dealt with this moral dilemma years after the Civil War...
Ratification of the US Constitution in New York, 1788
This unique copy of the US Constitution was printed by Claxton and Babcock in Albany, New York, between February 11 and March 21, 1788. Copies of the Constitution were widely distributed following the document’s signing by the members...
Aaron Burr, fugitive and traitor, 1804
On July 11, 1804, Vice President Aaron Burr shot former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a duel in Weehawken, New Jersey. Nine days later he wrote this cryptic letter (partially in cipher) to his son-in-law, Joseph...
The surrender of Robert E. Lee, 1865
Left with no route of escape after the fall of Petersburg, Virginia, on April 2, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee was faced with a difficult choice: keep fighting in an increasingly hopeless war or surrender to Ulysses S. Grant...
How We Elect a President: The Electoral College (Grades 7–9)
Objective This lesson on the Electoral College is part of Gilder Lehrman’s series of Common Core State Standards–based teaching resources. These resources were written to enable students to understand, summarize, and analyze original...
How We Elect a President: The Electoral College (Grades 10–12)
Objective This lesson on the Electoral College is part of Gilder Lehrman’s series of Common Core State Standards–based teaching resources. These resources were written to enable students to understand, summarize, and analyze original...
Harry S. Truman responds to McCarthy, 1950
In February 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy alleged in a speech in West Virginia that more than 200 staff members at the Department of State were known to be members of the Communist Party. During Harry Truman’s press conference on...
The British evacuation of Boston, 1776
On March 25, 1776, only eight days after the British evacuation of Boston, the Continental Congress authorized a medal, “George Washington before Boston,” to commemorate the event. During the war, Congress commissioned eleven medals...
Campaigning for the African American vote in Georgia, 1894
In the gubernatorial and local elections of 1894, the Democrats and the newly formed People’s Party or Populist Party vied for black votes in Georgia. Neither the Democrats nor the Populists called for racial equality in their...
Presidential Election Results, 1789–2020
Introduction The Electoral College consists of 538 electors, who are representatives typically chosen by the candidate’s political party, though some state laws differ. Each state’s number of electors is based on its congressional...
William Jennings Bryan and the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, 1895
In 1895, Williams Jennings Bryan wrote to I. J. Dunn, an Omaha lawyer and president of the Jackson Club, to decline an invitation to speak at the local Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner, an annual event held by the Democratic Party. Bryan,...
Dragging cannon from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston, 1775
On March 17, 1776, George Washington stood on Dorchester Heights alongside fifty-nine captured cannon high above the city of Boston, Massachusetts, and watched as British troops peacefully evacuated the city after an eleven-month...
A plan for a new government, 1775
More than a decade before the Constitutional Convention in 1787—and months before the United States declared independence—John Adams wrote a plan for a new form of government for the American colonies. In it Adams described the basic...
Confederate reaction to "Beast" Butler's orders, 1862
In April 1862 Union forces led by Captain David G. Farragut steamed past the weak Confederate defenses and captured New Orleans. During the occupation of the city Union troops were repeatedly insulted by New Orleans women and one...
World War II: Commemorating Pearl Harbor, 1941
Following the Japanese bombardment of the US Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, the United States declared war on Japan and Germany and immediately mobilized the country for war. "Remember Dec. 7th!" is a...
Runaway slave ad, 1860
Runaway slave ads were a reality in America as long as slavery existed. Appearing as broadsides and in newspapers, such ads offered monetary rewards from slaveholders for the capture and return of escaped slaves. On May 9, 1860, Enoch...
For the Press
Press Releases 2024 2024 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize Recipients Announced Hamilton and the Gilder Lehrman Institute announce 2024 EduHam winners from middle and high schools across the nation Nominations now open for the 2024...
Student Opportunities | 2023–2024 Voting Rights Prizes
As part of The Right to Vote: The Role of States and the US Constitution , the Gilder Lehrman Institute is pleased to announce the ten winners of the Voting Rights Prizes. These entries (eight submitted individually, two...
Theodore Roosevelt and the Trusts
Background Thick dark smoke billowing out of smokestacks several stories high proliferated across city skylines, heralding America's rise to world prominence and industrial supremacy. After the Civil War, Americans embraced the smog...
Nineteenth-Century Technology in Twenty-First-Century America
Introduction The nineteenth century was marked by a period of innovation, invention, and a huge spurt of growth known as the industrial revolution. Many inventions from the nineteenth century never caught on or have become obsolete,...
2024 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize Recipients Announced
March 1, 2024 — The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History announced today that Frances M. Clarke and Rebecca Jo Plant , co-authors of Of Age: Boy Soldiers and Military Power in the Civil War Era (Oxford University Press), are...
Traveling Exhibitions | Frederick Douglass: Advocate for Equality
> Frederick Douglass: Advocate for Equality features an exploration of the full trajectory of Douglass’s epic life from 1818 to 1895. In this traveling exhibition, viewers can learn about Douglass’s...
The US Government and Indigenous Peoples before the Trail of Tears, 1770-1839
Click to download this five-lesson unit.
Kenneth Chenault
Ken Chenault is the chairman and a managing director of the venture capital firm General Catalyst. From 2001 to 2018, Ken was chairman and CEO of American Express. Upon his retirement from American Express, Warren Buffett, the company...
Ruth & Sid Lapidus, 2024 Gala Honorees
Ruth & Sid Lapidus, 2024 Gala Honorees
Ruth Lapidus Ruth Lapidus graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and Hunter College in New York City. She has an MA in public health administration from Pace University and...
Annual Gala
The Annual Gala Join us as we celebrate and recommit ourselves to the rising generation and the future of our democracy. When : Tuesday, May 21, 2024 at 6:30 p.m. ET Where : Mandarin Oriental, New York City Honorees : Dr. Annette Gordon-Reed, Ruth ...
The New AP US History Study Guide Is Here!
The Gilder Lehrman Institute’s AP US History (APUSH) Study Guide has been helping students and teachers prepare for the APUSH exam for years. But, as you know, the College Board announced several changes for the 2024 exam, scheduled...
Library Programs
Library Affiliate Program The Library Affiliate Program , free to all public and university academic libraries, is a unique gateway to education resources, events, and tools designed to help librarians bring American history to life...
Professional Development
The Institute offers a wide range of professional development opportunities in American history, from customized in-person training at your school with scholars and master teachers, to rigorous summer teacher seminars and online...
Classroom-Ready PD Modules
Our Classroom-Ready PD modules have been designed to provide teachers with ready-made, classroom-friendly resources on the origins and evolution of key topics in American history that have great resonance today. The new online modules...
Veterans Legacy Program
Their Full Measure: Americans on the Battlefield In partnership with the National Cemetery Administration’s Veterans Legacy Program, the Gilder Lehrman Institute is pleased to offer free professional development sessions, lesson plans, and online...
Scholarly Fellowships
The Gilder Lehrman Institute provides annual short-term research fellowships in the amount of $3000 each to doctoral candidates, college and university faculty at every rank, and independent scholars working in the field of American...
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