Historical Documents

Thoreau
A Plea for Captain John Brown- Excerpts
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
Lincoln as They Saw Him by Herbert Mitgang- Excerpt
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Lincoln First Inaugural Address
First Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Lincoln Address
Cooper Union Address
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Democratic National Convention 1860
Democratic Party Platform, June 18, 1860.
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Texas Revolution
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
No Annexation of Texas
Texas Annexation Treaty
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis' Farewell Address
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
S.123 — 38th Congress (1863-1865)
S.123 - A Bill To abolish slavery throughout all the States and Territories of the United States.
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)
Title Page
The Confessions of Nat Turner- Excerpt
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
Fugitive Slave Bill Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861), ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Lee Letter
Robert E. Lee’s Demand for the Surrender of John Brown and His Party
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
New York Daily Tribune, “Freedom Triumphant”
New York Daily Tribune, “Freedom Triumphant”
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Hand written Emancipation Proclamation 1863
Emancipation Proclamation 1863
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Broadside of John Brown's Last Speech
John Brown's Speech to the Court at his Trial
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)
Black Code
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
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)
Amnesty Oath
Amnesty Oath of Robert E. Lee
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
A Plea for Captain John Brown
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Amendments Proposed by the Peace Conference, February 8-27, 1861
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
John Demos
My Favorite Historical Novel by John Demos
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
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)
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)
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)
Additional Article to the Treaty for the Suppression of the African Slave Trade
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)
Mary Todd Lincoln letter
Letter from Abraham Lincoln to Mary Todd Lincoln
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Abolition/Slavery Timeline
ERA 3: Revolution and the New Nation (1754–1820s), ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861), ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Amendments Proposed in Congress by Senator John J. Crittenden
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)
William Styron
The Confessions of William Styron by Yvonne French
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
John Brown Entrance Into Hell Song
John Brown's Entrance Into Hell.
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)

Historical Images

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)
Political Cartoon
Substance and Shadow Political Cartoon
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)
Nat Turner's Rebellion
Horrid Massacre in Virginia- Composite of scenes of Nat Turner’s rebellion
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
Scene in the House on the passage of the proposition to amend the Constitution, January 31, 1865
Scene in the House on the passage of the proposition to amend the Constitution, January 31, 1865
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Lincoln Photo
Abraham Lincoln on the day of his speech at the Cooper Union
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)
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)
John Brown Cartoon
John Brown exhibiting his hangman
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
Infantry regiment
Infantry regiment in camp. [Probably 96th Pennsylvania Infantry at Camp Northumberland near Washington, DC, ca. 1861] Mathew Brady Collection. (Army) ca. 1861
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Sheet Music
“The Battle-Cry of Freedom” with Confederate Lyrics
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)

Collections

Lee surrenders
Why The Civil War Still Matters, by James McPherson
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Nat Turner
Children of Darkness, by Stephen B. Oates
ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
John Brown
The Father of American Terrorism, by Ken Chowder
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)
The Statue of the Freed Slave
The Slaves Freed, by Stephen Oates
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)