On February 2, 2023, our curators discussed Benjamin Franklin’s copy of the US Constitution and Jean-Antoine Houdon’s bust of Franklin. They were joined by Liz Covart (Founding Director, Colonial Williamsburg Innovation Studios) and Sara Charles (Education Program Manager, Gilder Lehrman Institute). This program was generously sponsored by The Fund for the Endowment of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms.

Originally broadcast on September 17, 2020, this session of Inside the Vault: Highlights from the Gilder Lehrman Collection celebrated Constitution Day with rare materials from the Gilder Lehrman Collection: The US Constitution! Gilder Lehrman's curators were joined by Conroe Brookes from Hamilton, and Kevin Cline, 2016 National History Teacher of the Year, to explore these rare documents, learn about their creation, take a close look at how the preamble changed between the first draft and the final copy, and what the Constitution says about voting.

On May 4, 2023, our curators were joined by Dr. Andrew Robertson (The Graduate Center and Lehman College, CUNY) to discuss materials related to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century voting rights. Dr. Robertson explained how voting rights were expanded and contracted, from the Revolutionary era through the Civil War and Reconstruction.

This resource is a 3-activity lesson guide that has students learn about Post-Pearl Harbor America, life in Japanese Internment Camps, and the Legality of Internment Camps. Students will read a few primary sources included excerpts from Korematsu v. US and Endo v. US.

Thomas Jefferson Foundation Professor of History at the University of Virginia, Peter S. Onuf has written extensively on sectionalism, federalism, and political economy, with a particular emphasis on the political thought of Thomas Jefferson. In this lecture, he looks at Jefferson’s opinions about federal government.

This unit is one of the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s Teaching Literacy through History™ resources, designed to align with the Common Core State Standards. These units were developed to enable students to understand, summarize, and evaluate original sources of historical significance. Through a step-by-step process, students will acquire the skills to analyze, assess, synthesize, and develop knowledgeable and well-reasoned viewpoints on primary source materials.

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and the American Studies Program and History Department of Columbia University have joined together to observe the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth in 1809 and to mark the publication of Our Lincoln: New Perspectives on Lincoln and His World, edited by Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History, Columbia University (W.W. Norton & Company).

When Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States in 1860, his experience in politics and government included serving in the Illinois legislature and the US House of Representatives. He had also studied law and was licensed to practice law in Illinois at age twenty-seven. This seems like scant experience for a man who would lead a country through its greatest internal challenge. However, Lincoln found a way to draw on his life experience and his professional knowledge to lead the nation with an astuteness and skill that might have escaped a more seasoned politician.

What was James Madison's background? How did he feel about the idea of democracy? What ideas did he contribute to the drafting of the Constitution? Larry Kramer, Dean at Stanford Law School, discusses Madison's legacy.

Jack Rakove, William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies at Stanford University, briefly discusses James Madison's role in the framing and ratification of the Constitution, as well as the legal approach of Originalism.

Jack Rakove, William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies at Stanford University, briefly discusses James Madison's role in the framing and ratification of the Constitution, as well as the legal approach of Originalism.

This lesson explores the question: Why did the Founders find it necessary to provide protections for slavery in the US Constitution?

Noted Lincoln historians discuss Lincoln's legacy at the Gilder Lehrman-sponsored Global Lincoln Symposium held at Oxford University.

Interactive Map of the US for Women's Suffrage. Information about each state is provided when clicking on a state.

This unit is one of the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s Teaching Literacy through History resources, designed
to align with the Common Core State Standards. These units were developed to enable students to
understand, summarize, and evaluate original materials of historical significance. Through a step-by-step
process, students will acquire the skills to analyze, assess, and develop knowledgeable and well-reasoned
viewpoints on primary sources and literary texts.
Over the course of three lessons the students will compare and contrast two different versions of one of the
most iconic events in American history: the midnight ride of Paul Revere. The comparison will be made
between the poem “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and a description of the event
written by Paul Revere himself. Students will use textual evidence from these two sources to draw their
conclusions and write an argumentative essay.

In this unit students will develop a thorough knowledge of the text of the Monroe Doctrine and understand how this document represented a major shift in American foreign policy. Students will demonstrate learning by combining prior knowledge and outside sources to dig deeper and discover more relevant information related to the adoption and application of the Monroe Doctrine throughout United States history.

This resource is a lecture about Nixon and the Constitution by R. B. Bernstein.

Students will develop a rich understanding of the arguments in favor of and in opposition to the ratification of the US Constitution. They will examine and analyze key excerpts from "Federalist No. 51," George Mason’s Objections to the Constitution, and notes from Alexander Hamilton’s Plan of Government speech. As the students discuss the arguments presented, they will come to understand that Americans did not unilaterally agree on their new form of government.

These lessons on the Bill of Rights are part of Gilder Lehrman’s series of Common Core–based units. These units were written to enable students to understand, summarize, and analyze original texts of historical significance. Students will demonstrate this knowledge by writing summaries of selections from the original document and, by the end of the unit, articulating their understanding of the complete document by answering questions in an argumentative writing style to fulfill the Common Core Standards. Through this step-by-step process, students will acquire the skills to analyze any primary or secondary source material.

This lesson on the Bill of Rights is part of Gilder Lehrman’s series of Common Core–based units. These units were written to enable students to understand, summarize, and analyze original texts of historical significance. Students will demonstrate this knowledge by writing summaries of selections from the original document and, by the end of the unit, demonstrating their understanding through visual and oral presentations. Through this step-by-step process, students will acquire the skills to analyze any primary or secondary source material.