6 April
Stafford, Robert (fl. 1837-1866)
Autograph letter signed
Title: to Ma
GLC02618.089
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Catch up on presidential elections since 1789 with two Gilder Lehrman resources: The Electing the President Digital Exhibition and Interactive Timeline
Then look for more of the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s Online Exhibitions and Interactive Features.
This year we recognized 50 teachers as State History Teachers of the Year. These exceptional educators were awarded $1,000 and an archive of books and resources for their school library, and were honored in state ceremonies. But who are they, really? We asked several state winners to answer a few questions about themselves. This week, meet
Kelsey Snyder, 2016 Minnesota State History Teacher of the Year
Q: What do you enjoy doing when you aren’t teaching history?A: I love to listen/watch/talk about anything Hamilton. I saw the Broadway show last summer before the original cast left, and it was
BE PART OF A NATIONAL PUBLIC PROGRAMMING INITIATIVE TO MARK THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE US ENTRY INTO WORLD WAR I
Round 2 of applications for the World War I and America project are now open! Grants of $1200–$1800 are available to libraries for public programming exploring the First World War. Presented by Library of America with support from the Gilder Lehrman Institute, the NEH, and other partners, World War I and America is a two-year initiative that aims to bring veterans and their families together with the general public to explore the continuing relevance of the war by reading,
This year, in conjunction with the WWI and America project and the upcoming 100-year anniversary of America’s entry in WWI, we look at the origins of Veterans Day as a day to commemorate veterans of the Great War. On November 11, 1919, exactly one year after World War I ended, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first Armistice Day by asking Americans to "be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service." November 11 was known as Armistice Day until 1954, when Congressman Edwin K. Rees of Kansas proposed that November 11 honor all veterans, not just
On November 14, 1775, Richard Henry Lee, a Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, visited fellow delegate John Adams, and the two held a fruitful discussion on "what form of government is more readily and easily adopted." Upon Lee's request, the next day Adams wrote up a rough "sketch" of his ideas, which he sent to Lee. Adams envisioned a government where,
A Legislative, an Executive and a judicial Power, comprehend the whole of what is meant and understood by Government. It is by ballancing each of these Powers against the other two, that the Effort in human nature
In November 1637, Anne Hutchinson was sentenced to banishment by the Massachusetts Bay Colony, having been declared a "woman not fit for our society."
As a midwife, wife, and mother of fifteen children, Hutchinson was held in high esteem by the Boston community. Governor John Winthrop recalled that she conducted herself "in the way of righteousness and kindness" and that "she had in a short time insinuated her self into the Hearts of much of the people."
Hutchinson began to hold meetings for growing numbers of women and men, in which she discussed her own interpretation of the church’s
The city of Hoboken, New Jersey, has a special connection to World War I. It was the port of embarkation for almost two million American soldiers heading overseas. To commemorate the 100-year anniversary of America’s entry into WWI, the Hoboken Historical Museum, recipient of a WWI and America grant and a Gilder Lehrman traveling exhibition, has organized the ten-part lecture series Heaven, Hell, or Hoboken. From August 2016 to May 2017, the museum will host visiting authors who will explore a variety of themes on "the war to end all wars."
Take a peek at the Hoboken Historical Museum’s WWI
Applications are now being accepted for Summer 2017 Teacher Seminars! Spend an exciting week living among fellow educators at a university campus or historical site and learning from renowned scholars on a variety of historical topics. Explore next summer’s Teacher Seminar offerings and apply here.
Teacher seminars are open to all Affiliate School teachers. If you are a teacher who is not part of the Affiliate School program, you can easily sign up here.
In coordination with classroom use of our 2017 Calendar of World War II, and to commemorate Veterans Day, we invited teachers to submit photographs of military monuments or memorials taken by K–12 students in their classes. We selected ten of the photographs as winners. We received more than 130 photographs from students across the country, and even from Taiwan! Our judges—Christine Kang, COO of the Institute; Susan Saidenberg, Director of Exhibitions; Ron Nash, Senior Education Fellow; Peter Shea, Videographer; and Justine Ahlstrom, Executive Editor—had a difficult time choosing just ten.
On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas. The Dow Jones News Service ticker tape shown here provides a testimony of the day’s harrowing events as they unfolded, and gives insight into the confusion and panic of the nation as they awaited news of the President’s fate. The reports begin with, "PRESIDENT KENNEDY WAS SHOT TODAY JUST AS HIS MOTORCADE LEFT DOWNTOWN DALLAS — MRS KENNEDY JUMPED UP AND GRABBED MR KENNEDY — SHE CRIED OH NO — THE MOTORCADE SPED ON." The ticker news tape continues to follow Kennedy to the hospital, and
Today is Giving Tuesday—a day between Thanksgiving and the rush of the holiday season to give back to the community by volunteering, donating, or speaking out.
Americans have a long history of coming together to make a difference and improve the lives of others, most prominently during the Progressive Era, when people across social classes fought for social, political, and economic reforms. The infographic below highlights the top ten most prominent reform movements of the era. You can view an interactive, clickable version here.
On December 2, 1823, President James Monroe delivered his annual message to Congress. In one portion, now known as the Monroe Doctrine, he declared that the United States would not meddle in European affairs, and warned European powers not to interfere in the Western Hemisphere. From then on, a European attempt to assert control over any territory in the Western Hemisphere, through attack, colonization, or puppet monarchs, would be viewed as a threat to America as well.
The doctrine was a response to growing unease about European powers jockeying for control or territory and trade in the
On December 6, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, was ratified:
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
As a constitutional amendment, it was more permanent—and farther reaching—than the Emancipation Proclamation, an executive order that applied solely to those states in rebellion.
The US Senate had
Seventy-five years ago, shortly before 8 a.m. on Sunday, December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack against US armed forces in Hawaii. Japanese pilots targeted Army, Navy, and Marine airfields, followed by naval ships at Pearl Harbor, with the aim of devastating the entire US Pacific fleet.
The two-hour attack left 2,403 Americans dead and 1,178 injured, and was followed by a formal declaration of war against the United States. On December 8, after a nearly unanimous vote by Congress, the US formally declared war on Japan.
This interactive story map uses a timeline and photographs,
The first Battle of Fredericksburg, fought December 11–15, 1862, has the distinction of being the largest Civil War battle, with a staggering total of 173,000 combatants. On December 11, Union troops came under heavy fire as they built bridges across the Rappahannock River. They crossed into the town of Fredericksburg the next day and clashed with Confederate troops, making this the first urban battle of the war. On December 13, 1862, Union troops led by General Ambrose Burnside faced off against General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate forces at Marye’s Heights on the outskirts of Fredericksburg
Congratulations to Lamar University history professor Jeff Forret, who has been selected as the winner of the 2016 Frederick Douglass Book Prize for his book Slave Against Slave: Plantation Violence in the Old South (Louisiana State University Press). Forret’s book explores the physical conflicts between enslaved people in the American South prior to the Civil War. Using a variety of historical documents, Forret sheds light on the complex dynamics, value systems, and social relationships that existed among enslaved people. Forret will recieve a $25,000 prize at a ceremony in his honor on
We’re excited to announce that the Gilder Lehrman Institute is now a registered provider of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) in Texas!
Educators can obtain CPE hours through a variety of programs: online Self-Paced Courses, Teaching Literacy through History workshops, and summer Teacher Seminars—which are now open for applications.
We are currently in the process of becoming a registered professional development provider in all 50 states in order to make it easier for teachers to obtain professional development credit for our programs. If you would be interested in seeing the Gilder
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first Southern state to secede from the Union. Abraham Lincoln’s election in November 1860 set the wheels of secession in motion. Many Southerners were convinced that the new president and his Republican Party would take federal action against slavery.
This broadside, printed by the Charleston Mercury, announced that South Carolina, by unanimous vote, would repeal the US Constitution and that "the union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States, under the name of ‘The United States of America,’ is hereby dissolved."
Eventually, ten
Passed by Congress in September 1789, the Bill of Rights was officially ratified on December 15, 1791, when Virginia became the tenth state (out of fourteen) to approve ten of the twelve proposed amendments. These ten amendments to the Constitution protect individual liberties from the power of the federal government; guarantee freedom of speech, press, religion, petition, and assembly; and specify the rights of the accused in criminal and civil cases.
Explore some of the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s teaching resources for introducing the Bill of Rights in the classroom:
Grades 4-6
Grades 7-9
The deadline for the WWI and America Project is January 13, 2017, in just three weeks!
Public, academic, and community college libraries have the opportunity to join institutions across the country in commemorating the 100th anniversary of America entering World War I by receiving a programming grant and a dynamic Gilder Lehrman traveling exhibition.
Apply to the program, a partnership with the NEH and The Library of America, or discover WWI programs being held in your state.
On December 29, 1777, badly in need of more supplies and troops, George Washington wrote to the New Hampshire legislature pleading for assistance. He describes the desperate state of the 9,000 Continental Army troops camped for the winter in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, counting many ill or wounded and noting that least one-third were braving the cold barefoot and without proper clothing. Washington sent a version of this letter to every state legislature, with the exception of Georgia.
In the six months the Continental Army was camped in Valley Forge, two thousand died from cold, hunger, and
On January 4, 1865, the New York Stock Exchange opened for business in its first permanent headquarters on Broad Street.
The Exchange had formally existed since 1792, but had operated out of a series of packed Wall Street coffee-houses and rented offices. By the mid-nineteenth century, however, the need for a more permanent exchange became clear: the opening of the Erie Canal saw New York City rise to prominence as the nation’s financial center, while a surge in American enterprise and the invention of telegraphs, tickers, and transatlantic cables greatly increased trading capacity. After the
The SAT US History Exam is only two weeks away, on January 21! Forty percent of the exam will focus on the momentous events and changes of the twentieth century. Prepare by reviewing the prewar, postwar, and present-day eras, or view the entire SAT II Study Guide here.
Alexander Hamilton was born on January 11—in 1755 or 1757—in Nevis, a small island in the Caribbean. Hamilton left an immense legacy as the first secretary of the treasury and architect of the American financial system. But what of Hamilton the man?
Hamilton’s amorous side is revealed in an intimate letter to his fiancée, Elizabeth Schuyler.
Writing in the midst of the American Revolution, while serving as George Washington’s aide, Hamilton declares, "I meet you in every dream . . . ’Tis a pretty story indeed that I am to be thus monopolized, by a little nut-brown maid like you and from a
In 1622, colonist Sebastian Brandt wrote a letter to a merchant in London, seeking supplies and assistance. Brandt had arrived in Jamestown intending to scour the land for precious minerals such as gold, silver, and copper. But he was impeded by the deaths of his wife and brother, his own illness, and a lack of supplies. He asks Henry Hovener to send him a long list of necessities. including a bed, clothing, shoes, cutlery, cheese, spices, "cullerd beads" to trade with Native Americans, and a strong young man to assist him in mining. Though he lacks money and gold, he assures Hovener that he