Search | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

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News

Bill of Rights Ratified: December 15, 1791

Passed by Congress in September 1789, the Bill of Rights was officially ratified on December 15, 1791, when Virginia became the tenth state (out of fourteen) to approve ten of the twelve proposed amendments. These ten amendments to...

News

Articles of Confederation: On This Day, November 17

A day after appointing a committee to write the Declaration of Independence, the Second Continental Congress named another committee to write the Articles of Confederation . The members worked from June 1776 until November 17, 1777,...

News

South Carolina Secedes from the Union: On This Day, December 20, 1860

On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first Southern state to secede from the Union. Abraham Lincoln’s election in November 1860 set the wheels of secession in motion. Many Southerners were convinced that the new president...

Program/Event

Freedom: A History of US

This exhibition documents and illustrates critical figures and events while tracing the evolving concept of freedom from founding until 1968. Among the highlights are: a rare 1776 printing of the Declaration of Independence, a printed...

Interactive

Alexander Hamilton: Witness to the Founding Era

Economics, Government and Civics

This series of online exhibitions explores the importance of Alexander Hamilton to the founding of the United States. Each mini-exhibition features locations where Alexander Hamilton made history and documents written by or about him...