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1,977 items

History Now Essay

The Emancipation Proclamation: Bill of Lading or Ticket to Freedom?

Allen C. Guelzo

Economics, Government and Civics

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

Of all the speeches, letters, and state papers he had written, Abraham Lincoln believed that the greatest of them was his Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863. With one document of only 713 words, Lincoln declared more than...

Appears in:

6 | Lincoln Winter 2005

Essay

The Americas to 1620

Christopher L. Miller

Geography, World History

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

At the end of the first millennium, most people in the Eastern Hemisphere had a firm sense of how the world was arranged, who occupied it, and how they had come to be where they were. Various sacred texts as well as long-standing folk...

Essay

The Progressive Era to the New Era, 1900-1929

Daniel T. Rodgers

Government and Civics

K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

We should not accept social life as it has "trickled down to us," the young journalist Walter Lippmann wrote soon after the twentieth century began. "We have to deal with it deliberately, devise its social organization, . . . educate...

History Now Essay

Self-Evident Truths: Black Americans and the Declaration of Independence

Leigh Fought

In 1776, as the ink on the Declaration of Independence dried, the Rev. Lemuel Haynes pointed out that Black Americans like himself lived under “much greater oppression than that which Englishmen seem so much to spurn at. I mean an...

Appears in:

67 | The Influence of the Declaration of Independence on the Civil War and Reconstruction Era Summer 2023

History Now Essay

Lemuel Haynes, Young African American Patriot of the 1770s

John Saillant

Literature, Religion and Philosophy

In 1776, Lemuel Haynes was a young veteran of the War of Independence who was envisioning his future. He had been an indentured servant from his birth in 1753 to his coming of age in 1774. After being released from indenture, he...

Appears in:

69 | The Reception and Impact of the Declaration of Independence, 1776-1826 Winter 2023

History Now Essay

The US Banking System: Origin, Development, and Regulation

Richard Sylla

Economics, Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Banks are among the oldest businesses in American history—the Bank of New York, for example, was founded in 1784, and as the recently renamed Bank of New York Mellon it had its 225th anniversary in 2009. The banking system is one of...

Appears in:

24 | Shaping the American Economy Summer 2010

Essay

The War for Independence

Ray Raphael

World History

On July 4, 1774, exactly two years before the United States declared independence, a patriotic club in Worcester, Massachusetts, decided that each member should have in the ready two pounds of gunpowder and twelve flints. With the...

Lesson Plan

Evaluating Lyndon B. Johnson’s Character and Efforts during the Civil Rights Era

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Background Information In 1969 Thomas Baker conducted an interview with Roy Wilkins, executive directory of the NAACP, based on Wilkins’s experiences with Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. This abridged version of the...

History Now Essay

Robber Barons or Captains of Industry?

T. J. Stiles

Economics, Geography, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, World History

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

On February 9, 1859, Henry J. Raymond, editor of the New York Times , said something strange about Cornelius Vanderbilt. Raymond didn’t like Vanderbilt, a steamship tycoon with such a vast fleet that he was known as the Commodore,...

Appears in:

24 | Shaping the American Economy Summer 2010

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2022 Spring Newsletter

The Gilder Lehrman Institute welcomes you to spring with a host of new and familiar programs for teachers and students. We recount our recent events, offer news about our upcoming Lincoln Prize Ceremony and Gala, and celebrate our...

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1,977 items

The Emancipation Proclamation: Bill of Lading or Ticket to Freedom?

The Americas to 1620

The Progressive Era to the New Era, 1900-1929

Self-Evident Truths: Black Americans and the Declaration of Independence

Lemuel Haynes, Young African American Patriot of the 1770s

The US Banking System: Origin, Development, and Regulation

The War for Independence

Evaluating Lyndon B. Johnson’s Character and Efforts during the Civil Rights Era

Robber Barons or Captains of Industry?

2022 Spring Newsletter

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