Featured Primary Sources
The Age of Jackson
Nothing can enrich and enliven our understanding of the nation’s past, or dispel apathy about it, more powerfully than primary sources. The primary sources below open up a variety of viewpoints and have been chosen by master teachers specifically for use in the classroom. Affiliate School members can print a packet that includes an image of the document, photograph, or other resource, a transcript where applicable, and text to place the document in historical context. Additionally, you may want to search the Gilder Lehrman Collection itself for other resources to enrich your lessons.
Texas Declaration of Independence, 1836
Creator: Delegates of the People of Texas Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels:
The Massacre of American Indian allies, 1818
Creator: Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+
The Monroe Doctrine, 1823
Creator: James Monroe Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Geography, Government and Civics, World History Grade Levels:Primary Sources from Other Sub-Eras
A Mirror for the Intemperate, ca. 1830
Creator: Henry Bowen Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels:
American Colonization Society membership certificate, 1833
Creator: American Colonization Society Curriculum Subjects: Grade Levels:
Horace Greeley on a woman’s reform newspaper, 1851
Creator: Horace Greeley Curriculum Subjects: Grade Levels:
Lincoln on abolition in England and the United States, 1858
Creator: Abraham Lincoln Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+