Search | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

1,584 items

Spotlight on: Primary Source

John Kennedy compares US and Soviet military power, 1953

On October 16, 1953, Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy spoke at an executive meeting of the American Legion at the organization’s national headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana. Addressing members of the United States’ largest...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

The United Nations and the international community, 1967

Government and Civics, Religion and Philosophy, World History

In this 1967 letter, Dr. Israel Goldstein, a prominent American rabbi and Zionist, comments on the United Nations as a peacekeeping organization. After World War II, Goldstein, with other rabbis, had lobbied members of the newly...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

Ronald Reagan on the unrest on college campuses, 1967

In his 1966 campaign for California governor, Republican Ronald Reagan promised to "to clean up the mess at Berkeley." Reagan was referring to the unrest prevalent not just at the University of California, Berkeley, but on college...

Lesson Plan

George Washington’s Rules of Civility

4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Introduction When George Washington was a teenager, he wanted to make a good impression on his elders. Good manners were important to him. He made sure that he knew how by copying Rules of Civility from a French rulebook in his own...

Lesson Plan

Surveying Land

Geography, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

K, 1, 2, 3

Introduction During the time of the American Revolution, much of the land in the colonies was not mapped. In his early years, George Washington was a surveyor and measured land to figure out the location of property. Materials Rope or...

Lesson Plan

Making a Lens

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

K, 1, 2, 3

Introduction Benjamin Franklin was a scientist and an inventor. As he got older, he noticed he needed glasses for reading and seeing things far away. Franklin solved this problem by inventing bifocals, which were glasses made with two...

Lesson Plan

Back in 1734

K, 1, 2, 3

Introduction Present the following scenario to your students. You can either read it to them or enlist students to act it out. The scenario is about two children who lived in 1734 and were the age of your students. "Anna Elizabeth and...

Lesson Plan

Our New Country Needs New Money: Colonial Money Simulation

Economics

K, 1, 2, 3

There certainly can’t be a greater Grievance to a Traveler, from one Colony to another than the different values their Paper Money bears. —an English visitor, ca.1742 Introduction Students use different kinds of paper money to...

Classroom Resources

Infographic: Reform Movements of the Progressive Era

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

9, 10, 11, 12

View this infographic as a PDF.

Classroom Resources

Historical Context: "Birth of a Nation"

Art, Geography, Government and Civics, Literature

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

In 1915, fifty years after the end of the Civil War, D. W. Griffith released his epic film Birth of a Nation . The greatest blockbuster of the silent era, Birth of a Nation was seen by an estimated 200 million Americans by 1946. Based...

Site Search

1,584 items

John Kennedy compares US and Soviet military power, 1953

The United Nations and the international community, 1967

Ronald Reagan on the unrest on college campuses, 1967

George Washington’s Rules of Civility

Surveying Land

Making a Lens

Back in 1734

Our New Country Needs New Money: Colonial Money Simulation

Infographic: Reform Movements of the Progressive Era

Historical Context: "Birth of a Nation"

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