Search | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

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History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

In this issue, HISTORY NOW looks at the efforts by women across two centuries to gain the right to vote and to enjoy equal opportunities within American society. The women’s rights movement, like the struggle by African Americans to...

Appears in:

7 | Women's Suffrage Spring 2006

History Now Essay

From The Editor

Carol Berkin

As the editor of History Now, let me welcome you back to another year in the classroom. What better way to start the year than with an issue on The American West? Of course, for many students, mention of "The West" conjures up popular...

Appears in:

9 | The American West Fall 2006

History Now Essay

From The Editor

Carol Berkin

Computers, iPods, cell phones, Blackberries . . . Radio, movies, television, videos . . . cars, planes, space shuttles . . . washing machines, dish washers, robotic vacuum cleaners . . . laser surgery, heart transplants, artificial...

Appears in:

10 | Nineteenth Century Technology Winter 2006

History Now Essay

From The Editor

Carol Berkin

Urbanization is a major theme in modern American history and it is intimately connected to such events as the revolutions in transportation and manufacturing and the expansion of our borders to the Pacific Ocean and the Rio Grande. In...

Appears in:

11 | American Cities Spring 2007

History Now Essay

From The Editor

Carol Berkinc

As school children, my generation thrilled to the stories of European explorers who set out in small wooden ships to cross uncharted seas. These men represented the curiosity, imagination, and desire for new experiences, exotic goods...

Appears in:

12 | The Age Of Exploration Summer 2007

History Now Essay

From The Editor

Carol Berkin

When delegates from twelve states gathered in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787, many of them feared that the quarrels between the states, the sudden rash of internal rebellions, the continuing presence of enemies on our national...

Appears in:

13 | The Constitution Fall 2007

History Now Essay

From The Editor

Carol Berkin

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into the global conflict known as World War II. The impact of this war was felt by civilians as well as soldiers, as the nation transformed itself...

Appears in:

14 | World War II Winter 2007

History Now Essay

From The Editor

Carol Berkin

Like the other branches of the national government, the court system has evolved over the course our history. The structure of the court was not fully defined in the Constitution. The first effort to organize the court and clarify its...

Appears in:

15 | The Supreme Court Spring 2008

History Now Essay

From The Editor

Carol Berkin

Literature

Every teacher knows that a novel can sometimes convey the mood and spirit of a historical era or event more powerfully than a textbook. And every teacher also knows that some novels have even made history. These are books that every...

Appears in:

16 | Books That Changed History Summer 2008

History Now Essay

From The Editor

Carol Berkin

The name Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt conjures up many images: from hunter to teddy bear, from trust-buster to champion of capitalism, from Republican president to Bull Moose challenger. T.R. remains controversial, contradictory, and...

Appears in:

17 | Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Era Fall 2008

History Now Essay

From The Editor

Carol Berkin

Abraham Lincoln is surely the most revered and admired president in our national history. As we look forward to the bicentennial of President Lincoln’s birthday in 2009, History Now is fortunate to have four leading Lincoln scholars...

Appears in:

18 | Abraham Lincoln in His Time and Ours Winter 2008

History Now Essay

From The Editor

Carol Berkin

As Americans anxiously watch the stock market’s daily fluctuations, the rising unemployment rate, housing foreclosures and the scandals that have rocked the financial world, the fear of another Great Depression hovers in our minds....

Appears in:

19 | The Great Depression Spring 2009

History Now Essay

From The Editor

Carol Berkin

Modern headlines often carry news of scandals, crimes, corruption, and violence. When historians study this darker side of life, they hope to use the events as windows on a particular era, shedding light on its cultural and religious...

Appears in:

20 | High Crimes and Misdemeanors Summer 2009

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

In 1763 Americans toasted their King and their Mother Country. Twenty years later, they celebrated their independence from both. The story of the birth of our nation is a fascinating one—complex, surprising, triumphant and tragic. It...

Appears in:

21 | The American Revolution Fall 2009

History Now Essay

From The Editor

Carol Berkin

In the decades immediately following the War of 1812, the face of America changed. Population grew and young Americans far outnumbered their parents. For many the West beckoned, and settlers poured into the region west of the original...

Appears in:

22 | Andrew Jackson and His World Winter 2009

History Now Essay

From The Editor

Carol Berkin

Americans love their sports. Many of us watch the year flow by, not from month to month, but from baseball to soccer to basketball to football season—until spring training rolls around and the cycle begins once more. Over our morning...

Appears in:

23 | Turning Points in American Sports Spring 2010

History Now Essay

From The Editor

Carol Berkin

In recent months, our newspapers, cable shows, blogs and even You Tube have been filled with articles and commentary on the American economy. From optimistic reassurances that American capitalism and its institutions are basically...

Appears in:

24 | Shaping the American Economy Summer 2010

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

Teachers responsible for a class in early American history often find themselves asking: When does American history begin? What does "America" include? Is this a story only of the English colonies, or is it the story of the settlement...

Appears in:

25 | Three Worlds Meet Fall 2010

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

In this final issue of 2010, History Now offers readers a selection of the latest interpretations of the Civil War era by four leading historians. These essays remind us that this critical moment in the history of our nation continues...

Appears in:

26 | New Interpretations of the Civil War Winter 2010

History Now Essay

From The Editor

Carol Berkin

Many of us who grew up in the decades of the Cold War have memories of participating in air raid drills in school, watching Joseph McCarthy and his anti-communist hearings on the grainy black and white of our televisions, waiting...

Appears in:

27 | The Cold War Spring 2011

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

Everything that American children of my generation knew—or thought they knew—about Indians, or Native Americans, came from Saturday afternoon cowboy and Indian movies. We knew that they talked funny; they all lived in teepees; they...

Appears in:

28 | American Indians Summer 2011

History Now Essay

From The Editor

Carol Berkin

The desire to reform and even to perfect society is as American as apple pie. From the Puritans’ determination to create "a city upon a hill," to the utopian communities of the early nineteenth century, to the communes created by...

Appears in:

30 | American Reform Movements Winter 2012

History Now Essay

From The Editor

Carol Berkin

The struggle for equality is one of the defining themes of American history. In recent issues of HISTORY NOW scholars and teachers have charted the movements to end slavery, to insure women’s suffrage, and to provide opportunities for...

Appears in:

8 | The Civil Rights Movement Summer 2006

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

Popular music is the soundtrack to much of our history. When Revolutionary War soldiers went off to war, they did so to the tune of "Yankee Doodle." Abolitionist songs, sung by groups like the Hutchinson Family Singers, brought the...

Appears in:

32 | The Music and History of Our Times Summer 2012

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

Once again, presidential politics is in the air—and on the television. And on the radio. And on the web, on billboards, and bumper stickers. In a presidential election year, it seems as if our nation’s full attention is focused on the...

Appears in:

33 | Electing a President Fall 2012

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

"The happiness of America is intimately tied to the happiness of all humanity," the young Marquis de Lafayette wrote in 1777. His comment suggests the immediate and the long-range impact of a revolution that was one of the first...

Appears in:

34 | The Revolutionary Age Winter 2012

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

The Constitution does not spell out the duties or define the powers of a president’s spouse, yet America’s "first ladies" have, from the beginning of our nation, played key roles as public figures. They have set precedents,...

Appears in:

35 | America’s First Ladies Spring 2013

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

Some of the most powerful political statements in American history appear in the inaugural addresses of our presidents. In crises and in moments of social and cultural change, in wartime and peace, the president we have elected speaks...

Appears in:

36 | Great Inaugural Addresses Summer 2013

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

If the Civil War is the most significant event of our national history, the Battle of Gettysburg is surely its most memorable moment. For this issue of History Now, we asked our contributors to provide novel perspectives and new...

Appears in:

37 | Gettysburg: Insights and Perspectives Fall 2013

History Now Essay

Take a Teacher’s Tour of the Battle of Gettysburg

Matthew Pinsker

Historian Matthew Pinsker leads a teacher’s tour of the Battle of Gettysburg, highlighting key moments and individuals to illustrate the broad story of the battle, its implications for the Civil War, and its legacy in American history...

Appears in:

37 | Gettysburg: Insights and Perspectives Fall 2013

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

Hank Williams sang about the lonely sound of a train whistle in the night. Iconic photographs capture the laying of the last rail. Countless movies and books set their adventures aboard railroad cars. Despite the advent of airplanes...

Appears in:

38 | The Joining of the Rails: The Transcontinental Railroad Winter 2014

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

From Virgil to Shakespeare to Walt Whitman, poets have often turned to historical subjects for their topic, preserving historical events and figures in verse. This poetry, in turn, becomes the subject of historical inquiry as scholars...

Appears in:

39 | American Poets, American History Spring 2014

History Now Essay

His Excellency General Washington

Phillis Wheatley

SIR, I Have taken the freedom to address your Excellency in the enclosed poem, and entreat your acceptance, though I am not insensible of its inaccuracies. Your being appointed by the Grand Continental Congress to be Generalissimo of...

Appears in:

39 | American Poets, American History Spring 2014

History Now Essay

I Hear America Singing

Walt Whitman

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong, The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam, The mason singing his as he makes ready for work...

Appears in:

39 | American Poets, American History Spring 2014

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

Sharks raining down on Los Angeles, zombies menacing their neighbors, strange aliens invading earth’s cities, prehistoric creatures chasing shipwrecked travelers . . . Americans thrill to stories of disaster. Whether man-made or...

Appears in:

40 | Disasters in Modern American History Fall 2014

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

The abolition of slavery, the granting of woman suffrage, and the end to legal racial segregation came about because reformers were willing to challenge social norms and public policies in the streets, the courts, and the halls of...

Appears in:

41 | The Civil Rights Act of 1964: Legislating Equality Winter 2015

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

In most major American cities today, Chinatowns are magnets for tourists and local people eager to enjoy dim sum and Hunan beef or to browse in the shops that line the streets of these enclaves. Non-Chinese Americans join the crowds...

Appears in:

42 | The Role of China in US History Spring 2015

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

It is a rare war movie or novel that does not include a mail call scene. News from home, packages filled with cookies or favorite foods, drawings by sons or daughters folded in with letters from husbands, wives, or family members...

Appears in:

43 | Wartime Memoirs and Letters from the American Revolution to Vietnam Fall 2015

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

Hamilton! This is his moment. After years of being overlooked when Americans named the members of that pantheon known as "the Founding Fathers," Alexander Hamilton has finally become a star. Literally. It took a talented young rapper...

Appears in:

44 | Alexander Hamilton in the American Imagination Winter 2016

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

Most of us rely on written sources in our teaching, but we know there are many mediums and genres through which the story of our nation can be told. In this issue, History Now focuses on one of these: reading our past through the...

Appears in:

45 | American History in Visual Art Summer 2016

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

Every war produces its heroes, but the heroic African American men and women who helped carry America to victories have too often been forgotten. In this issue of History Now scholars and journalists join together to add black...

Appears in:

46 | African American Soldiers Fall 2016

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

During the war for independence, the first major fundraising drive in American history was mounted in Philadelphia. As the two Pennsylvanians who conceived of the drive knew, this effort to raise funds for Washington’s army would...

Appears in:

47 | American Women in Leadership Winter 2017

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Our Summer 2017 issue looks at the two great musical traditions that come out of the African American culture of the South: jazz and the blues. These uniquely American genres are known throughout the world and, although they began...

Appears in:

48 | Jazz, the Blues, and American Identity Summer 2017

News

Romeo Smith: Slave, Soldier, Freeman

Born enslaved, Romeo Smith of Windham, Maine, entered the Continental Army with the promise of freedom in exchange for military service. He served in the 7th Massachusetts for three years and was supposedly manumitted. Yet in January...

News

Women in the Civil War: Vivandieres

Vivandieres, sometimes known as cantinieres, were women who followed the army to provide support for the troops. Ideally, a vivandiere would have been a young woman—the daughter of an officer or wife of a non-commissioned officer—who...

News

A Civil War soldier’s letters: "Save them if it cost the farm"

George Tillotson from Greene, New York, enlisted with the 89th New York Infantry in November of 1861. This ambrotype (photograph made on glass) and a series of letters from the summer of 1862 remind us that soldiers and their families...

News

Washington Dodge: Titanic Survivor, April 1912

One hundred years ago this weekend, the RMS Titanic sank, claiming the lives over 1,500 passengers and crew. In this account, Dr. Washington Dodge recounts his tale of survival. Written on board the RMS Carpathia during the three-day...

News

Abraham Lincoln, Mary Owens, and the accidental engagement

In 1836, Abraham Lincoln found himself in a tenuous situation. He was engaged to a woman he barely knew and didn’t want to marry. Mrs. Elizabeth Abell had been pushing for a romance between Lincoln and her sister, Mary Owens, whom...

News

Mother’s Day, 1919: "may you never get another letter from France as long as you live!"

What would be a better Mother’s Day present than learning that your child would be returning home from war? In 1919, thirty-year-old Lawrence Hopkins of the 305th Engineers was at the Forwarding Camp in Le Mans, France, awaiting...

News

Civil War–era sketches by David Stauffer

When the Civil War broke out, David McNeely Stauffer (1845–1913) was only sixteen years old. While attending Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania from September 1861 through June 1863, he served brief, emergency enlistments...