Celebrate the Fourth of July with Gilder Lehrman Resources and Book Breaks

Fourth of July Resources

The Gilder Lehrman Institute invites everyone—students, teachers, and history enthusiasts—to visit our new Fourth of July resource page and explore materials related to American independence.

Expect to find:

Spotlights on Primary Sources

• Declaration of Independence, 1776
• Henry Knox on the British invasion of New York, 1776

Videos

• Inside the Vault: Founding Era Propaganda
• Inside the Vault: July Anniversaries

Lesson Plans

• “The Declaration of Independence”
• “The Preamble to the US Constitution, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Declaration of Independence”
• “What Does Liberty Look Like?”
• “America in Song”

Explore the Fourth of July resource page HERE.

Celebrate the Spirit of Independence with Book Breaks

Every week, the Gilder Lehrman Institute interviews award-winning historians about important topics in American history on Book Breaks. Our growing archive of past episodes serves as a diverse and abundant resource for students, teachers, and all lovers of history. To celebrate the Fourth of July this year, we recommend checking out the following past Book Breaks at home or in the classroom:

The Cause: The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773–1783 by Joseph Ellis

Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Joseph Ellis explores the American Revolution in a discussion of his book The Cause: The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773–1783 and responds to audience questions.

Completing a trilogy of books that began with Founding Brothers, The Cause returns us to the very heart of the American founding, telling the military and political story of the war for independence from the ground up, and from all sides: British and American, loyalist and patriot, White and Black.

Enjoy the full program here.

Liberty Is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution by Woody Holton

Woody Holton (University of South Carolina) discusses his book, Liberty Is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution, and answers questions from the audience.

Professor Holton’s book Liberty Is Sweet is, in the words of Annette Gordon Reed, “a deeply researched and bracing retelling” of the American Revolution that explores countless connections between the patriots of 1776 and other Americans whose passion for freedom often brought them into conflict with the Founding Fathers.

Enjoy the full program here.

The Declaration of Independence: A Global History by David Armitage

David Armitage (Harvard University) discusses the Declaration of Independence as a global influencer as recounted in his book The Declaration of Independence: A Global History and answers questions from the audience.

Professor Armitage, in his book, uses over one hundred declarations of independence written since 1776 to show the influence and role the US Declaration has played in creating a world of states out of a world of empires. This unique global perspective demonstrates the singular role of the United States document as a founding statement of our modern world.

Enjoy the full program here.

Book Breaks is completely free for all K–12 teachers and students and just $25 a year for everybody else. A subscription gives access to the live session each week and our growing archive of past episodes featuring guests including Eric Foner, Annette Gordon-Reed, Peniel Joseph, and Elizabeth Varon.

By purchasing any of the books mentioned above through the links provided, you are helping to support the programming of the Gilder Lehrman Institute. We receive an affiliate commission from every sale and put that money to work to develop high-caliber American history programming.