Historical Documents

Mary Todd Lincoln letter
Letter from Abraham Lincoln to Mary Todd Lincoln
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Thoreau
A Plea for Captain John Brown- Excerpts
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
Amendments Proposed in Congress by Senator John J. Crittenden
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Molefi Kete Asante
The Real Nat Turner by Dr. Molefi Kete Asante
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861), ERA 10: Contemporary United States (1968 to the present)
John Brown Entrance Into Hell Song
John Brown's Entrance Into Hell.
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
H.R. 14
H.R.14 — 38th Congress (1863-1865)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Lincoln and Hamlin Image
Book Review by Chandra Miller Manning
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877), ERA 10: Contemporary United States (1968 to the present)
Sam Waterson
Abraham Lincoln’s Cooper Union Address, as read by Sam Waterston May 23, 2004
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877), ERA 10: Contemporary United States (1968 to the present)
Corwin Amendment
Joint Resolution Proposing a 13th Amendment to the Constitution
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Pamphlet
Democratic ticket. Our principals the Constitution. For President John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky For Vice President Joseph Lane of Oregon
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Title Page
The Confessions of Nat Turner- Excerpt
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
Court Proceedings and Testimony Regarding the Denmark Vesey Rebellion
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
A Plea for Captain John Brown
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis' Farewell Address
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
New York Daily Tribune, “Freedom Triumphant”
New York Daily Tribune, “Freedom Triumphant”
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Lincoln, Hollywood, and an Opportunity for Historians- Excerpt
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877), ERA 10: Contemporary United States (1968 to the present)
This political cartoon illustrates James Buchanan beset by figures who employ quotes from the Ostend Manifesto to legitimize their criminal acts.
Ostend Manifesto
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861), ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Cover Page
Fear of Insurrection: Chapter 12 of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
Additional Article to the Treaty for the Suppression of the African Slave Trade
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Poem
Nat Turner by T. Thomas Fortune
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861), ERA 6: The Development of the Industrial United States (1870-1900)
John Demos
My Favorite Historical Novel by John Demos
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
Amendments Proposed by the Peace Conference, February 8-27, 1861
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Grant Inauguration
First Inaugural Address of Ulysses S. Grant
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Amnesty Oath
Amnesty Oath of Robert E. Lee
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Joint Resolution Submitting 13th Amendment to the States; signed by Abraham Lincoln and Congress Congress, Wednesday, February 01, 1865
Joint Resolution Submitting 13th Amendment to the States; signed by Abraham Lincoln and Congress Congress, Wednesday, February 01, 1865
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Rep. Joe Courtney
Ahead of Oscars, Courtney asks Spielberg, DreamWorks to correct Lincoln inaccuracy that places Connecticut on wrong side of slavery debate
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877), ERA 10: Contemporary United States (1968 to the present)
Frederick Douglass Address Cover Page
John Brown: An Address
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin on Lincoln, The Movie and Man- Excerpt
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877), ERA 10: Contemporary United States (1968 to the present)

Historical Images

Tragic Prelude
Tragic Prelude by John Steuart Curry
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Political Cartoon
A Family Quarrel, or the Reason Why.
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Political Cartoon
Substance and Shadow Political Cartoon
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Lincoln print
The Union must and shall be preserved. For President Abraham Lincoln of Illinois. For Vice President Hannibal Hamlin of Maine.
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
John Brown Cartoon
John Brown. Meeting the slave-mother and her child on the steps of Charlestown jail on his way to execution
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
Lincoln Photo
Abraham Lincoln on the day of his speech at the Cooper Union
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Lincoln cartoon
The National Game. Three "Outs" and One "Run" – Abraham Winning the Ball
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Stonewall Jackson
General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Map of the Union 1864
Bacon and Company, Map of the United States, showing the territory in possession of the Federal Union, January, 1864
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
James Buchanan surrounded by criminal quoting the Ostend Manifesto
The Ostend Doctrine
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861), ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
The Freedmen's Bureau Cartoon
"The Freedman's Bureau"
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Secession Movement Political Cartoon
The "Secession Movement"
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Harvest of Death
Pennsylvania, Gettysburg. A Harvest of Death
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)

Collections

The Statue of the Freed Slave
The Slaves Freed, by Stephen Oates
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Lincoln at the Time of the Cooper Union Speech
Lincoln, the Orator by Harold Holzer
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
John Brown
The Father of American Terrorism, by Ken Chowder
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh in Gone With the Wind
Hollywood History, by Mark C. Carnes
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877), ERA 10: Contemporary United States (1968 to the present)
Lee surrenders
Why The Civil War Still Matters, by James McPherson
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
John Brown, the Abolitionist
The Father of American Terrorism, by Ken Chowder
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
Nat Turner
Children of Darkness, by Stephen B. Oates
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
Abraham Lincoln & Hannibal Hamlin
America’s Oddest Election, by Harold Holzer
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)