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90,944 items

History Now Essay

Lincoln at Cooper Union

Harold Holzer

Art, Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

In March 1860, just a few weeks after returning home from his triumphant visit to New York to deliver his Cooper Union address, Lincoln went on the road yet again. He traveled up from Springfield, Illinois, to Chicago to complete...

Appears in:

6 | Lincoln Winter 2005

History Now Essay

The Years of Magical Thinking: Explaining the Salem Witchcraft Crisis

Mary Beth Norton

Geography, Government and Civics, Literature, Religion and Philosophy

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Most Americans’ knowledge of the seventeenth century comes from semi-mythical events such as the First Thanksgiving at Plymouth, Pocahontas purportedly saving Captain John Smith from execution in early Virginia, and Salem witchcraft....

Appears in:

20 | High Crimes and Misdemeanors Summer 2009

Essay

The Age of Jefferson and Madison

Peter S. Onuf

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison both played important roles in the era of the American Revolution. Jefferson was the lead author of the Declaration of Independence that launched the American experiment in republican government;...

History Now Essay

Anti-Slavery before the Revolutionary War

Sylvia R. Frey

Religion and Philosophy

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Anti-slavery is almost as old as slavery itself. Indeed it could easily be argued that the first enslaved person who jumped overboard or led an on-ship rebellion on the Middle Passage launched the anti-slavery movement. The modern...

Appears in:

5 | Abolition Fall 2005

History Now Essay

The Culture of Congress in the Age of Jackson

Joanne B. Freeman

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

During an 1841 debate in the House of Representatives, Edward Stanly of North Carolina said something derogatory about Virginian Henry Wise. A few minutes later, Wise walked over to Stanly’s seat. After some "earnest, and excited...

Appears in:

22 | Andrew Jackson and His World Winter 2009

News

Inside the Vault: Romeo Smith: Slave, Soldier, Freeman

Read a transcript of the certificate and examine an African American’s pay warrant from the Revolutionary War .

News

Inside the Vault: An African American Protests the Fugitive Slave Law, 1850

Read the transcript of Henry Weeden’s note and read an essay about abolition and antebellum reform .

News

Happy Birthday George Washington: On This Day, 1732

George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, in Virginia. To celebrate, enjoy a performance of "One Last Time" from the Broadway musical Hamilton , performed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Christopher Jackson, Sydney James Harcourt, and...

News

An "Autograph and Something More" from Frederick Douglass

Between 1855 and 1886, Franklin E. McNear collected autographs in his leather-bound, red autograph book . Among the eighty-four signatures are notable historic figures like P.T. Barnum, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Frederick Douglass ....

News

"Bookending" the Twentieth Century

The twentieth century was packed with socio-economic changes in American society. It is often difficult to understand just how different our country was at the beginning of the century. Use the infographic below as you are teaching...

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90,944 items

Lincoln at Cooper Union

The Years of Magical Thinking: Explaining the Salem Witchcraft Crisis

The Age of Jefferson and Madison

Anti-Slavery before the Revolutionary War

The Culture of Congress in the Age of Jackson

Inside the Vault: Romeo Smith: Slave, Soldier, Freeman

Inside the Vault: An African American Protests the Fugitive Slave Law, 1850

Happy Birthday George Washington: On This Day, 1732

An "Autograph and Something More" from Frederick Douglass

"Bookending" the Twentieth Century

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