Featured Primary Sources
Economics
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.
Alexander Hamilton’s “gloomy” view of the American Revolution, 1780
Creator: Alexander Hamilton Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels:
Anti-corporate cartoons, ca. 1900
Creator: Curriculum Subjects: Art, Economics, Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+
Campaigning for the African American vote in Georgia, 1894
Creator: the State Democratic Party of Georgia Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Government and Civics Grade Levels:
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s First Inauguration, 1933
Creator: Franklin D. Roosevelt Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Government and Civics, Literature Grade Levels:
George Washington on the abolition of slavery, 1786
Creator: George Washington Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9
George Washington would have supported the New Deal, 1934
Creator: Franklin D. Roosevelt Curriculum Subjects: Grade Levels:
Hamilton’s Report on the Subject of Manufactures, 1791
Creator: Alexander Hamilton Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Government and Civics Grade Levels:
Herbert Hoover on the Great Depression and New Deal, 1931–1933
Creator: Herbert Hoover Curriculum Subjects: Foreign Languages Grade Levels:
Herbert Hoover’s Inaugural Address, 1929
Creator: Herbert Hoover Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels:
JFK on the containment of Communism, 1952
Creator: John F. Kennedy Curriculum Subjects: Economics, World History Grade Levels: 13+
John Mosby on the Silver Issue, 1895
Creator: John S. Mosby Curriculum Subjects: Economics Grade Levels:
Mary Todd Lincoln on life after the White House, 1870
Creator: Mary Todd Lincoln Curriculum Subjects: Economics Grade Levels:
Official photograph from the “Golden Spike” Ceremony, 1869
Creator: Andrew J. Russell Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Geography, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+
Ronald Reagan on economics and political parties, 1962
Creator: Ronald Reagan Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels:
Runaway Slave Ad, 1860
Creator: Enoch M. Duley Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Geography, Government and Civics Grade Levels:
Sharecropper contract, 1867
Creator: Isham G. Bailey Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+
Sir Francis Drake’s attack on St. Augustine, 1586
Creator: Baptista Boazio Curriculum Subjects: Economics, World History Grade Levels:
Slave revolt in the West Indies, 1733
Creator: John Peter Zenger Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Geography, World History Grade Levels:
The Monroe Doctrine, 1823
Creator: James Monroe Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Geography, Government and Civics, World History Grade Levels:
The New York Conspiracy of 1741
Creator: Daniel Horsmanden Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Government and Civics Grade Levels:
The Province of Massachusetts Bay requests aid from Queen Anne, 1708
Creator: Thomas Oliver Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+
The Stamp Act, 1765
Creator: George III Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Government and Civics Grade Levels:
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, 1911
Creator: Joseph Rumshinsky Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Foreign Languages, Literature, Religion and Philosophy Grade Levels:
William Jennings Bryan and the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, 1895
Creator: William Jennings Bryan Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: