Lesson Plan The History of the Supreme Court, 1787 to 1937 Government and Civics 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Click here to download this five-lesson unit.
Essay The Declaration of Independence and the Long Struggle for Equality in America: An Introduction Louis P. Masur Government and Civics Whatever else the Declaration of Independence encompassed—a proclamation of political sovereignty, an indictment against the King of England, an appeal for allies—its assertion that “all men are created equal” shines as the polestar...
Essay Lincoln Allen C. Guelzo 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ No one seemed less well-cast for the role of reformer, in an age of reform, than Abraham Lincoln. To begin with, he was a stranger, emotionally and intellectually, to evangelical Christianity, the great engine of reform in the...
Essay "Half slave, half free": Lincoln and the "House Divided" Gabor S. Boritt Government and Civics The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all proclaim, "a house divided against itself can not stand." [1] Living in a Bible-reading country, most nineteenth-century Americans knew that metaphor by heart—words that also made good common...
Essay "That glorious consummation": Lincoln on the Abolition of Slavery Allen C. Guelzo Government and Civics "That man who thinks Lincoln calmly sat down and gathered his robes about him, waiting for the people to call him, has a very erroneous knowledge of Lincoln," wrote Abraham Lincoln’s long-time law partner, William Henry Herndon. "He...
Essay Lincoln and Emancipation: Black Enfranchisement in 1863 Louisiana Richard J. Carwardine Government and Civics As the president of a fractured nation, Abraham Lincoln faced no issue more perplexing than that of restoring the rebel states to the Union. Reconstruction during wartime was, he judged, "the greatest question ever presented to...
Essay Abraham Lincoln and the Passage of the Thirteenth Amendment Allen C. Guelzo Government and Civics "Those who knew Mr. Lincoln best," wrote Illinois Congressman Isaac Arnold, "knew that he looked, confidently, to the ultimate extinction of slavery" and used "every means which his prudent and scrupulous mind recognized as right and...
Lesson Plan Abraham Lincoln on Slavery and Race 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Background Slavery played a prominent role in America’s political, social, and economic history in the antebellum era. The "peculiar institution" was at the forefront of discussions ranging from the future of the nation’s economy to...
Lesson Plan Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address Government and Civics, Literature 11, 12 Unit Objective This lesson on Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address is part of Gilder Lehrman’s series of Common Core–based units. These units were written to enable students to understand, summarize, and analyze original texts...
Lesson Plan The Gettysburg Address: Identifying Text, Context, and Subtext Government and Civics, Literature, Religion and Philosophy 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Objective This lesson is part of Gilder Lehrman’s series of Common Core State Standards–based teaching resources. These resources were developed to enable students to understand, summarize, and analyze original texts of historical...