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For more results, go to The Collection.

6 April

Stafford, Robert (fl. 1837-1866)

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Ma

GLC02618.089

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circa 1400-1500

Unknown

Manuscript

Title: [Antiphon]

Single sheet of music. Date inferred. An antiphon is a verse usually from Scripture sung before and after a canticle or psalm as part of the liturgy.

GLC00496.124

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1493

Columbus, Christopher (1451-1506)

Pamphlet Include in Object Type Dropdown: 

Title: Epistola Christofori Colom... de insulis Indie supra Gangem.... [exploration]

First edition, in Latin, second (corrected) issue, printed at Rome after 29 April 1493. Gothic type; 33 lines per page. Pamphlet printing letter to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain concerning his first voyage to America, the so-called Barcelona letter. The earliest printed Columbus letter, describing his discovery of the Caribbean islands of Juana and Hispaniola.

GLC01427

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4 May 1493

Alexander VI, Pope (1431-1503)

Broadside Include in Object Type Dropdown: 

Title: [Demarcation bull, granting Spain possession of lands discovered by Columbus]

Broadside entitled "Copia de la bula del decreto y concession q[ue] hizo el papa / Alexandro sexto al Rey y la Reyna nuestros senores de las Indias conforme al capitu." Unique copy of second version possibly printed at Valladolio, by Francisco Fernandez de Cordoba. Title in Spanish and text in Latin.

GLC04093

circa 1500-1930

Various

Title: [Collection of Americana from Revolution & Civil War] Decimalized

[decimalized]

GLC00496

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21 June 1540

García de Loaysa, Francisco (fl. 1540)

Letter signed

Title: to Francisco Vásquez de Coronado [in Spanish]

Written on behalf of King Charles I of Spain (Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor), by the President of the Council of the Indies, Francisco García de Loaysa. Report of the Niza expedition. Authorizes Coronado's expedition to explore the heart of the North American continent.

GLC04883

1552

Casas, Bartolomé de las, (1474-1566)

Book Include in Object Type Dropdown: 

Title: Aqui se Contiene una Disputa, o Controversia [Second Edition]

The fifth tract on the conquest of the New World and rights of the Indians. In Spanish.

GLC04220

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circa 1580

Grenville, Richard, Sir (1541?-1591)

Autograph letter signed

Title: to John Blighe

Writes to his cousin to ask him to lend him money. In 1585 Grenville sailed to Virginia with 300 settlers that he successfully disembarked on Roanoke Island (off the coast of what is now North Carolina).

GLC00496.027

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1585-1763

Kneller, Godfrey, Sir (1646-1723)

Engraving Include in Object Type Dropdown: 

Title: [Engraving of Samuel Pepys]

Engraving that appears to be based on the painting by Sir Godfrey Kneller, created in 1689.

GLC00496.258.02

1585-1763

Wildes, John (fl. 1746)

Autograph document signed

Title: Petition to move training

GLC01450.248.04

1585-1763

Autograph document signed

Title: To Captain Nathanial Green

GLC01450.248.10

1585-1763

Unknown

Autograph document

Title: Recipe for consumption

GLC01450.600.015

n.d.

Unknown

Photograph Include in Object Type Dropdown: 

Title: William Coddington [picture]

Print of William Coddington, who was an official in the Massachusetts and Rhode Island colonies in the seventeenth century.

GLC02150.53

1585-1763

Allen Goerge

Autograph document signed

Title: Estate Inventory

Assets of Charles Allen (small edit where a word is added)

GLC02924.064

1585-1763

Allen Goerge

Autograph document signed

Title: Estate Inventory

Assets of Charles Allen (no edit)

GLC02924.065

1585-1763

Unknown

Autograph letter

Title: Extracts from deeds

GLC02924.072

1585-1763

Pope Seth

Autograph letter

Title: Land Grant

GLC02924.073

1585-1763

Unknown

Manuscript document

Title: "three things are to be helped in conscience fraud, accident, . . .

. . . things of confidence." Fragment of a larger document. Explains what constitutes an accident.

GLC03107.01338

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1585-1763

Livingston, Robert

Manuscript document signed

Title: to Arent Bratt re: case against John Barnard

The document outlines Christopher Estrat's complaint against John Barnard, who allegedly agreed to lease a piece of land to Jan Baptist and Estrat for 7 years, but then ran Estrat off of it before the lease expired. Estratt is therefore suing Barnard for damages. Livingston's description of the case is then followed by a note from Barnard to Arent Bratt, in which Barnard asks Bratt to attend his case at the Court of Common Pleas.

GLC03107.01822

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1585-1763

Davenport, Thomas

Manuscript document

Title: Account of Peeter Van Brugh & Johannes Cuyler

Van Brugh and Cuyler purchased shroud and some other materials.

GLC03107.01823

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1585-1763

Wessells, Dirk

Manuscript document

Title: "Dirk Wessells Esq: Mayor of the Citty of Albany to the Sherriffe . . .

Constables and other his Majes. officers greting show yee that wee the said Mayor have Lyncenced and" P.1 ends incomplete. P.2 contains an account. Docketed on verso.

GLC03107.01824

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1585-1763

Livingston, Philip

Manuscript document

Title: "a Lyst of Rents due to the estate of father Livingston"

GLC03107.01825

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1585-1763

Johnston, John

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Robert Livingston re: remedies for Livingston's illness [fragment]

Johnston prescribes some remedies to cure Livingston's maladies.

GLC03107.01826

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1585-1763

Unknown

Manuscript document

Title: "Reasons offer to the arbitrators why they ought not to allow . . .

of Jacob Harwoods sham sale of Robt. Livingstons Tallys of 1670." P.1 of the document outlines how Harwood's actions anulled any legitimate sale. P.2 is an account of how Robert Livingston came into possession of a part of the estate of Coll. Dongan. Docketed on verso.

GLC03107.01829

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1585-1763

Hitchcok, John

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Robert Livingston Junior re: offer to lease a farm

Hitchcok offers to lease a farm that Robert Livingston recently purchased.

GLC03107.01830

For more results, go to The Collection.

For more results, go to History Now.

Parks and Politics: A Look at Federal Land

Video

Geography, Government and Civics

The Changing Face of the Supreme Court in American History

Video

Government and Civics

The Supreme Court and Religious Freedom

Video

Government and Civics

The Arab-Israeli Conflict and the Cold War

Video

Government and Civics, World History

No Party Now: Politics in the Civil War North

Video

Government and Civics

The Impact of the New Deal

Video

Economics, Government and Civics

8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13+

FDR’s Personal History and Influences

Video

In Pursuit of Equity: Women, Men, and the Quest for Economic Citizenship in 20th-Century America

Video

Economics, Government and Civics

The Emancipation Proclamation

Video

Government and Civics

5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13+

Two American Revolutions

Video

Government and Civics

The Costs of the American Revolution

Video

Economics, Government and Civics

5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13+

The Aftermath of the French and Indian War

Video

Government and Civics

The Hemingses of Monticello

Video

Government and Civics

Non-Violent Methods of Protest

Video

Economics, Government and Civics

7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13+

Origins of the Civil Rights Movement

Video

Government and Civics

7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13+

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Legacy

Video

Government and Civics

7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13+

FDR’s First 100 Days . . . and Obama’s

Video

Economics

American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson

Video

Government and Civics

9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13+

A Voyage Long and Strange

Video

World History

9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13+

Morgan: American Financier

Video

Art, Economics, World History

8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13+

Lincoln in Latin America

Video

Government and Civics, World History

Reform Cities: Chicago, Osaka, and Moscow

Video

Economics, World History

Europeans and the New World, 1400–1530

Video

Economics, Geography, Government and Civics, Religion and Philosophy, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, World History

Calling the Constitutional Convention

Video

Government and Civics

8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13+

Women and the Revolution

Video

Government and Civics

8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13+

For more results, go to History Now.

Showing results 51 - 75

"Document of the Month" - July 2013

If you don’t see the full story below, click here (PDF) or click here (Google Docs) to read it—free!

Scholar’s Blog - Brooks D. Simpson

JULY 1–3, 1863: THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG As the Army of the Potomac moved northward in late June 1863 to counter the Army of Northern Virginia’s invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania, it passed by the battlefields of Manassas. Samuel W. Fiske, a brigade staff officer in the Second Corps, noted that he was "much shocked to find such great numbers of the bodies of Union soldiers lying still unburied" nearly ten months after the battle of the previous August. "Their skeletons, with the tattered and decaying uniforms still hanging upon them, lie in many parts of last year’s battle field, in long

"Document of the Month" - August 2013

If you don’t see the full story below, click here (PDF) or click here (Google Docs) to read it—free!

Respected General turns traitor, 1780

Benedict Arnold, whose name is now synonymous with the word "traitor," was once a well-respected American officer responsible for key victories at Fort Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Fort Stanwix, and Saratoga. Arnold’s contemporaries were shocked when his plot to surrender West Point to the British was discovered in September 1780. Historical records indicate that Arnold’s betrayal had begun in the spring of 1779 when he handed over military intelligence to the British. On August 3, 1780, he assumed command of the garrison at West Point, New York, and began to secretly negotiate its surrender to

Scholar’s Blog - Brooks D. Simpson

SEPTEMBER 19–20: THE BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA: MISSED OPPORTUNITY In June 1863 the Union Army of the Cumberland under William S. Rosecrans commenced a skillful campaign of maneuver. In just over twelve weeks it drove the Confederate Army of Tennessee under Braxton Bragg out of its namesake state and into northern Georgia. Jefferson Davis compelled Robert E. Lee to detach two divisions from the Army of Northern Virginia under the command of James Longstreet and send them to reinforce Bragg in anticipation of a counterstrike. After several days of skirmishing, on September 18 the Confederates

"Document of the Month" - September 2013

If you don’t see the full story below, click here (PDF) or click here (Google Docs) to read it—free!

"Document of the Month" - October 2013

If you don’t see the full story below, click here (PDF) or click here (Google Docs) to read it—free!

Fredericksburg, Then and Now

by Elena Colón-Marrero, Christopher Newport University Class of 2014 One would think that growing up in a town rich in colonial and Civil War history would inspire an appreciation for that history. My experience living in Fredericksburg, Virginia, was quite the opposite. Fredericksburg’s history as a home for the Algonquian-speaking peoples, a port city in colonial Virginia, and a strategic location during the Civil War was all around me. However, I became desensitized due to numerous field trips to battlefields; constant references to George Washington and his mother, Mary; and my apathetic

Scholar’s Blog - Aaron Sheehan-Dean

OCTOBER 10 AND NOVEMBER 5, 1863: DAVIS TRIES TO RALLY CONFEDERATE MORALE The summer of 1863 had been a poor one for the Confederacy. Robert E. Lee’s army was not just repulsed from its invasion of Pennsylvania but bloodily beaten at Gettysburg. At the same time, William S. Rosecrans maneuvered Braxton Bragg’s Confederates out of Middle Tennessee at the cost of fewer than six hundred Union casualties. Farther west, Ulysses S. Grant had at last captured Vicksburg, the strongest Confederate citadel of the Mississippi, and delivered complete control of the "Father of Waters" to the Union. Lee

"Document of the Month" - November 2013

If you don’t see the full story below, click here (PDF) or click here (Google Docs) to read it—free!

Scholar’s Blog - Brooks D. Simpson

NOVEMBER 23–25, 1863: THE BATTLE OF CHATTANOOGA On the afternoon of November 25, 1863, Ulysses S. Grant stood on Orchard Knob east of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and pondered what to do next. It was just over a month since he had arrived at the town where the Army of the Cumberland, in the aftermath of its defeat at Chickamauga on September 20, found itself besieged by the victorious Army of Tennessee under the command of Braxton Bragg. Grant’s job was to break the siege and defeat the enemy. It was a daunting task. The Confederates looked down upon their beaten foe from defensive positions along

"Document of the Month" - December 2013

If you don’t see the full story below, click here (PDF) or click here (Google Docs) to read it—free!

Scholar’s Blog - Brooks D. Simpson

JANUARY 2, 1864: GENERAL CLEBURNE PROPOSES THAT THE CONFEDERACY FREE AND ENLIST ITS SLAVES As 1864 began, both northerners and southerners believed that the coming year would prove decisive in the ongoing conflict. Although the Confederates had suffered several serious setbacks in 1863, they were far from finished. If they could just fend off and frustrate the Yankees in 1864, enough voters in the North might grow weary of the seemingly endless bloodshed and vote Abraham Lincoln out of the White House, paving the way for a negotiated settlement that would recognize southern independence. But

"Document of the Month" - January 2014

If you don’t see the full story below, click here (PDF) or click here (Google Docs) to read it—free!

"Document of the Month" - February 2014

If you don’t see the full story below, click here (PDF) or click here (Google Docs) to read it—free!

Scholar’s Blog - Brooks D. Simpson

MARCH 9, 1864—ULYSSES S. GRANT IS COMMISSIONED AS LIEUTENANT-GENERAL On March 8, 1864, Ulysses S. Grant and his eldest son, Fred, arrived at Washington, DC. It was the general’s first visit to Washington since 1852, when he had been a young officer. What happened next is fairly well known. The front desk clerk at Willard’s Hotel did not recognize his distinguished guest and assigned him a small room before realizing that the hero of Vicksburg and Chattanooga was standing before him. After struggling to eat a meal at the hotel restaurant as excited onlookers buzzed around him, Grant made his

"Document of the Month" - March 2014

If you don’t see the full story below, click here (PDF) or click here (Google Docs) to read it—free!

Fighting discrimination during World War II: Eleanor Roosevelt’s "four basic rights," 1944

In this newly received donation to the Gilder Lehrman Collection, Eleanor Roosevelt responds to a correspondent who was apparently worried about the desegregation of restrooms and forced social interaction between the races in the government’s movement toward racial equality in some spheres. Mrs. Roosevelt enumerates the "four basic rights which I believe every citizen in a democracy must enjoy. These are the right for equal education, the right to work for equal pay according to ability, the right to justice under the law, the right to participate in the making of the laws by use of the

The Pierce Butler Papers from the US Constitutional Convention

This archive of twenty-six documents was compiled by Pierce Butler when he served as one of South Carolina’s delegates to the US Constitutional Convention in 1787. It includes the printed first and second drafts of the Constitution; two small notebooks of proceedings; contemporary copies of the Virginia (or Randolph) Plan favoring larger states in Congress, the New Jersey (or Patterson) Plan favoring smaller states, Hamilton’s plan for a bicameral legislature and permanent executive, and Franklin’s compromise—all of which were used by Butler during the debates. These documents provide a

Civil War soldiers: Thomas Burpee and his sons

<p>The Gilder Lehrman Collection has more than 10,000 letters written by soldiers during the American Civil War, and when you read dozens or even hundreds of letters by the same person, it is very much like reality television. You become involved in the drama of their lives&mdash;the war, relationships, finances, and losses. You are with <a href="https://www.gilderlehrman.org/collections/treasures-from-the-collection/... Tillotson when he learns his four-year-old daughter Lucy died during an epidemic</a> that also threatened his other children. And you can &rsquo;t

The cost of living in New York City in 1787

The Henry Knox Papers in the Gilder Lehrman Collection contain more than 10,000 documents dating from 1750 to 1820. The bulk of the archive chronicles the American Revolution and early founding era. The depth and complexity of the Knox Papers have made it a favorite with the curatorial staff. One particularly interesting document from this archive is the Knox family’s living expenses in New York and when Henry served as secretary of war under the Articles of Confederation. It includes all the budget basics that we have today: rent, taxes, transportation, clothes, heat, school cost, household

Photographs of the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor

A good primary source will give you a sense of immediacy and awe that makes history come alive and leaves you with a deeper understanding of an event. It is one of the key elements we look for when adding materials to the Gilder Lehrman Collection. When we first learned of these photographs taken during the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor and in its immediate aftermath, we knew they would be a good fit in our Collection, and when they arrived, the staff was struck by the power of the images. We knew the statistics. Over 2,400 Americans were killed and an additional 1,178 were wounded in just

Ulysses S. Grant at West Point, 1839

<p>The Gilder Lehrman Collection includes a letter and a painting by Ulysses S. Grant when he was a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. These unique items reveal Grant as the equivalent of a modern-day college student.</p><p>On September 22, 1839, Cadet Grant wrote this letter to his cousin, McKinstrey Griffith, between the first-year summer encampment ended and the beginning of the academic year. In it, the seventeen-year-old reveals his uncensored first impressions of West Point, his sense of humor, and a bit of a mid-western drawl. It is

"Document of the Month" - April 2014

If you don’t see the full story below, click here (PDF) or click here (Google Docs) to read it—free!

"Document of the Month" - May 2014

If you don’t see the full story below, click here (PDF) or click here (Google Docs) to read it—free!

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Showing results 51 - 75

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