Search | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

90,989 items

History Now Essay

Andrew Jackson’s Shifting Legacy

Daniel Feller

Economics, Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Of all presidential reputations, Andrew Jackson’s is perhaps the most difficult to summarize or explain. Most Americans recognize his name, though most probably know him (in the words of a famous song) as the general who "fought the...

Appears in:

22 | Andrew Jackson and His World Winter 2009

History Now Essay

The Civil Rights Movement: Major Events and Legacies

James T. Patterson

Art, Government and Civics, Literature

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

From the earliest years of European settlement in North America, whites enslaved and oppressed black people. Although the Civil War finally brought about the abolition of slavery, a harsh system of white supremacy persisted thereafter...

Appears in:

8 | The Civil Rights Movement Summer 2006

History Now Essay

The World War II Home Front

Allan M. Winkler

Economics, Government and Civics, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, World History

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

World War II had a profound impact on the United States. Although no battles occurred on the American mainland, the war affected all phases of American life. It required unprecedented efforts to coordinate strategy and tactics with...

Appears in:

14 | World War II Winter 2007

Essay

The Thirteen Colonies

Francis J. Bremer

Government and Civics

The thirteen colonies that joined together to become the United States of America were but a part of the first British Empire. They were the product of a broad and dramatic expansion of England that began with the establishment of ...

History Now Essay

Ordinary Americans and the Constitution

Gary B. Nash

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

The Constitution is so honored today, at home and abroad, that it may seem irreverent to suggest that for a great many ordinary Americans, it was not what they wished as a capstone of their revolutionary experience. This is not to say...

Appears in:

13 | The Constitution Fall 2007

History Now Essay

Women and Wagoners: Camp Followers in the American War for Independence

Holly A. Mayer

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

An old tune called "The Girl I Left Behind Me" tells of a lovelorn soldier yearning to return home to his waiting fair maid. Although there is a good chance that this song was fifed during the Revolutionary War, the earliest...

Appears in:

21 | The American Revolution Fall 2009

Essay

Early Settlements

James Horn

"I marvel not a little," Richard Hakluyt the younger wrote in 1582, "that since the first discovery of America (which is now full fourscore and ten years) after so great conquest and plantings of the Spaniards and Portuguese there,...

History Now Essay

England on the Eve of Colonization

Paul E. J. Hammer

World History

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

When James VI of Scotland and his entourage began his journey south to take up the crown of England in April of 1603, it looked as if the ancient enmity between the two realms had finally been swept away. With England’s aristocratic...

Appears in:

25 | Three Worlds Meet Fall 2010

History Now Essay

The Jungle and the Progressive Era

Robert W. Cherny

Economics, Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

The publication of Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel The Jungle produced an immediate and powerful effect on Americans and on federal policy, but Sinclair had hoped to achieve a very different result. At the time he began working on the...

Appears in:

16 | Books That Changed History Summer 2008

Essay

The Road to War

Chandra M. Manning

Economics, Government and Civics

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

‘A house divided against itself can not stand’ I believe this government can not endure permanently, half slave, and half free . . . I do not expect the Union to be dissolved - I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect it...

Site Search

90,989 items

Andrew Jackson’s Shifting Legacy

The Civil Rights Movement: Major Events and Legacies

The World War II Home Front

The Thirteen Colonies

Ordinary Americans and the Constitution

Women and Wagoners: Camp Followers in the American War for Independence

Early Settlements

England on the Eve of Colonization

The Jungle and the Progressive Era

The Road to War

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