Search | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

1,623 items

History Now Essay

John Brown: Villain or Hero?

Steven Mintz

Economics, Literature, Religion and Philosophy

9, 10, 11, 12

In 1856, three years before his celebrated raid on Harpers Ferry, John Brown, with four of his sons and three others, dragged five unarmed men and boys from their homes along Kansas’s Pottawatomie Creek and hacked and dismembered...

Appears in:

5 | Abolition Fall 2005

History Now Essay

The Indians’ War of Independence

Colin G. Calloway

Geography, Government and Civics, World History

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson clearly described the role of American Indians in the American Revolution. In addition to his other oppressive acts, King George III had "endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of...

Appears in:

21 | The American Revolution Fall 2009

History Now Essay

"The Chinese Question"—Unresolved and Ongoing for Americans

John Kuo Wei Tchen

Government and Civics

In 1882, the United States Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act—the nation’s first race-based immigration law that was not effectively repealed until 1965–1968. The act exempted Chinese merchants, diplomats, scholars, and...

Appears in:

42 | The Role of China in US History Spring 2015

About page

Mary Caslin Ross

Mary Caslin Ross has spent her career in philanthropy, serving the less fortunate and needy by designing solutions in her public policy and foundation executive positions. She lives in Santa Fe with her husband, Alex, and is a...

Collection Item

Autograph letter signed

15 November 1789

Jackson, Henry, 1747-1809

to Henry Knox

Informs Knox that Ben, possibly Benjamin Hichborn, and Sam Gardner, will consider Knox's unspecified proposal. Reports that Captain Thomas Vose, who was overseeing affairs on Knox's Maine lands, was in town the previous week. Vose fears that a ship...

GLC02437.04415

Collection Item

Autograph letter signed

23 September 1783

Washington, George, 1732-1799

to Henry Knox

Expresses gratitude for Knox's praise of Washington in the context of Congress's resolution "That an equestrian statue of General Washington, be erected at the place where the residence of Congress shall be established," passed on 7 August 1783 (and...

GLC02437.09401

Collection Item

Autograph document

circa 10 November 1793

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

to George Washington

Knox's draft, written in the president's voice, for a portion of Washington's December 3, 1793 annual message (State of the Union address) to Congress. Discusses negotiations for peace between the U.S. and hostile Indians in the Ohio Territory. Says...

GLC02437.05984

Lesson Plan

Nineteenth-Century Native American Viewpoints

Geography

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

Objective Identify and compare the ideas of major Native American leaders from the nineteenth century. Evaluate the impact of those ideas on the United States and Native Americans. Locate the original and final reservation territory...

History Now Essay

American Jewish Origins, 1654-1820

Hasia Diner

Religion and Philosophy

A year after his inauguration as president, George Washington visited the Newport, Rhode Island Jewish Congregation, Jeshuat Israel, in 1790. He went in response to a letter he had received from the leaders of that synagogue as well...

Appears in:

71 | The Jewish Legacy in American History Summer 2024

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...