1,110 items
Ira Berlin, Distinguished University Professor of History at the University of Maryland, describes how the complex interplay of regional and generational factors shaped the development of slavery in the antebellum United States.
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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...
Historical Context: Slavery in a Capitalist World
Why were the South's political leaders so worried about whether slavery would be permitted in the West when geography and climate made it unlikely that slavery would ever prosper in the area? The answer lies in the South's growing...
Infographic: Industrialization: Changing Living Standards
View this infographic as a downloadable PDF. If you would like to learn more about Industrialization, view Industrialization - American Labor and Industrialization - The Growth of Industry .
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Supreme City: How Jazz Age Manhattan Gave Birth to Modern America
Lafayette College historian Donald Miller discusses his new book, Supreme City: How Jazz Age Manhattan Gave Birth to Modern America, in an interview with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
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Infographic: Industrialization: The Growth of Industry
View this infographic as a downloadable PDF. If you would like to learn more about Industrialization, view " Industrialization: American Labor " and " Industrialization: Changing Living Standards ."
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The Great Awakening
Historical Background The most important religious development in colonial America was the introduction of religious revivals known as the Great Awakening. Religious revivals first appeared in England, Scotland, and Germany, and...
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...
Henry Knox on the British invasion of New York, 1776
When twenty-six-year-old Henry Knox, the Continental Army’s artillery commander, penned this letter to his wife, Lucy, on July 8, 1776, patriot morale was at a low point. The summer of 1776 was a particularly hard time as word of...
Martha Jones - "Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All"
Order Vanguard at the Gilder Lehrman Book Shop We receive an affiliate commission from every purchase through the link provided. Thank you for supporting our programs!
Peter Cozzens - "Tecumseh and the Prophet: The Shawnee Brothers Who Defied a Nation"
Peter Cozzens is a retired US foreign service officer and winner of the 2017 Gilder Lehrman Prize in Military History. Order Tecumseh and the Prophet at the Gilder Lehrman Book Shop We receive an affiliate commission from every...
Pioneering New Methods to Expand Voting, 1865–1920
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> Access this essay as a PDF , including key vocabulary terms and discussion questions, or read the text of the essay below. A new chapter in voting rights began when the Civil War ended in 1865....
Historians Now: The Fiery Trial by Eric Foner
Eric Foner discusses his book The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery. The book begins with Lincoln's youth and through his career The book follows Lincoln's personal and political positions on slavery from childhood...
History Times: The Colonial Era
Crossing the Atlantic Ocean Imagine saying goodbye to family, friends, and familiar places to take a dangerous voyage across thousands of miles of ocean in a small wooden ship. Your destination: a strange and often hostile land. Yet,...
Jeff Nussbaum - "Undelivered: The Never-Heard Speeches That Would Have Rewritten History"
Jeff Nussbaum is a speechwriter and adjunct professor of public communications at American University. Order Undelivered at the Gilder Lehrman Book Shop We receive an affiliate commission from every purchase through the link provided...
Cotton Mather’s account of the Salem witch trials, 1693
Most Americans’ knowledge of the seventeenth century comes from heavily mythologized events: the first Thanksgiving at Plymouth, Pocahontas purportedly saving Captain John Smith from execution in early Virginia, and the Salem witch...
Ronald Reagan on Reducing the Size of Government
Essential Questions How can the powers of government be divided to best run our nation in this modern era? What role should the federal government play in shaping our economy? Document Ronald Reagan’s State of the Union Message,...
Ronald C. White - "On Great Fields: The Life and Unlikely Heroism of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain"
Ronald C. White Jr. is an American historian, bestselling author, and lecturer. Order On Great Fields at the Gilder Lehrman Book Shop We receive an affiliate commission from every purchase through the link provided. Thank you for...
Inside the Vault: Columbus Reports on His First Voyage, 1493
Gilder Lehrman curator Beth Huffer explores a report from Columbus to his sponsors. When Columbus arrived back in Spain on March 15, 1493, he immediately wrote a letter announcing his discoveries to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella,...
Natalia Molina - "A Place at the Nayarit: How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished a Community"
Natalia Molina is Distinguished Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. Order A Place at the Nayarit at the Gilder Lehrman Book Shop We receive an affiliate commission from every purchase...
Elizabeth Varon- "Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South"
Elizabeth R. Varon is the Langbourne M. Williams Professor of American History at the University of Virginia. Order Longstreet at the Gilder Lehrman Book Shop We receive an affiliate commission from every purchase through the link...
T.H. Breen - "The Will of the People: The Revolutionary Birth of America"
T. H. Breen is William Smith Mason Professor Emeritus of American History at Northwestern University. Order The Will of the People at the Gilder Lehrman Book Shop We receive an affiliate commission from every purchase through the...
Richard White - "Who Killed Jane Stanford?: A Gilded Age Tale of Murder, Deceit, Spirits, and the Birth of a University"
Richard White is Margaret Byrne Professor of American History, Emeritus at Stanford University. Order Who Killed Jane Stanford at the Gilder Lehrman Book Shop We receive an affiliate commission from every purchase through the link...
Steve Inskeep - "Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America"
Steve Inskeep is an American journalist who hosts Morning Edition and Up First on National Public Radio. Order Differ We Must at the Gilder Lehrman Book Shop We receive an affiliate commission from every purchase through the link...
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