Lehrman American Studies Center at ISI
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About Us
The Lehrman American Studies Center, a part of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, is dedicated to improving American universities' transmission of the political, economic, and moral principles that sustain a free and humane society. Read more about what we do and how you can help.
Home > Catalog > American History
American History
Articles
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Mercy Otis Warren
by Allison Mapes
This is a solid, if brief, treatment of the trail blazed by Mercy Otis Warren, the sister of James Otis, and historian of the Revolution. The article emphasizes Warren's role in the discipline of history, but hits on a number…
Books
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The Unsettling of America
by Wendell Berry
This essay argues that Americans have become estranged from the land, suffered a loss of community, devalued labour and become enslaved to the pursuit of profit. Berry, a farmer as well as a well-known contemporary essayist, has an accessible though…
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The Roots of American Order
by Russell Kirk
What holds America together? In this classic work, Russell Kirk describes the beliefs and institutions that have nurtured the American soul and commonwealth. Beginning with the Hebrew prophets, Kirk examines in dramatic fashion the sources of American order. His analytical…
- History of the United States by Charles A. Beard and Mary R. Beard
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The American Republic
by Orestes A. Brownson
Orestes Brownson's The American Republic was first published in 1865. The nation had just survived a Civil War that threatened to destroy the very life of a country less than one hundred years old. In this magisterial work, Brownson emerges…
- Basic Symbols of the American Tradition by George Carey and Willmoore Kendall
- 9 more
Images
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History
( Wikimedia Commons )
This mosaic by Frederick Dielman is located in the House Members Room, Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.
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Lincoln and Advisers
( Images of America )
George P. A. Healy's 1865 painting of Abraham Lincoln, Generals William T. Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant, and Admiral David S. Porter.
- Patrick Henry ( Images of American Political History )
- John Jay ( Images of American Political History )
- Broken Liberty ( Wikipedia )
- 2 more
Legal Documents
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Bolling v. Sharpe
by SCOTUS
This case, a companion case to Brown, addressed the lingering problem of segregation in Washington, DC. Brown had been decided (on the same day as Bolling) on 14 Amendment grounds. The 14th Amendment, though, did not apply to DC, as…
Maps
Online Libraries / Collections
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National Guard Historical Image Gallery
( National Guard )
An extensive collection of paintings depicting the National Guard in military action from earliest colonial times to Operation Desert Storm.
Websites
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Africans in America
( http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home.html )
The Africans in America Web site is a companion to Africans in America, a six-hour public television series. The Web site chronicles the history of racial slavery in the United States -- from the start of the Atlantic slave trade…
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Capital and the Bay: Narratives of Washington and the Chesapeake Bay Region, ca. 1600-1925
( Library of Congress, American Memory )
From Website Introduction: The Capital and the Bay: Narratives of Washington and the Chesapeake Bay Region, ca. 1600-1925 comprises 139 books selected from the Library of Congress's General Collections and two books from its Rare Book and Special Collections Division.…
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Connecticut History Online
( Connecticut Historical Society )
From website introduction: Connecticut History Online (CHO) is a collaboration between the Connecticut Historical Society, the Connecticut State Library, the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center at the University of Connecticut, Mystic Seaport, and the New Haven Colony Historical Society. Both…
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Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas: A Visual Record
( University of Virginia )
From website introduction: The approximately 1,235 images in this collection have been selected from a wide range of sources, most of them dating from the period of slavery. This collection is envisioned as a tool and a resource that can…
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Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: Congressional Documents and Debates
( Library of Congress, American Memory )
From website introduction: Beginning with the Continental Congress in 1774, America's national legislative bodies have kept records of their proceedings. The records of the Continental Congress, the Constitutional Convention, and the United States Congress make up a rich documentary history…
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You may find it helpful to narrow confine your search to a narrower topic. You can use the list of subjects on the left for that purpose.
Course level: Unknown
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Abraham Lincoln as Statesman
by Flagg Taylor
Course Description: *This course will explore Lincoln's confrontation with the problem of slavery and the American regime. It will primarily consist of a close analysis of Lincoln's speeches and writings, with particular emphasis on the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858. *Lincoln's… -
American Civil War
by Preston Jones
War is at best barbarism…. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is… -
American History to 1877
by J. Patrick Mullins
BROAD PURPOSE OF COURSE *University Catalogue Description: A survey of the history of the United States from the Colonial period to 1877. *This survey course provides an introduction to the colonial origins and early history of the United States. First… -
American Political Development
by David Nichols
Course description: An examination of the development and reform of political institutions and practices over the course of American History. Required Texts: James W. Ceaser. Presidential Selection: Theory and Development (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1979). David… -
American Political Experience
by Jesse Covington
Course Description Welcome to the American Political Experience! This course offers an in-depth introduction to some of the central features of American political theory. While deeply rooted in the political history of the United States, this course proceeds thematically rather… -
American Political Leadership
by Randall Strahan
Introduction This course will explore the politics of political leadership in the United States. First, we will consider the different perspectives on political leadership offered by traditional political science, and by modern political science and the other social sciences. Second… -
Civil Liberties and the Constitution
by Frank Colucci
This course explores the meaning of the Constitution through an examination of leading opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court, an institution that is both legal and political in nature. This semester focuses on the First Amendment’s… -
Civil War and Reconstruction, 1848-1877
by Phil Hamilton
This course surveys the political, social, and military events that occurred during the years 1848-1876. The class especially focuses on the war years of 1861-1865. -
Colonial America
by Jonathan Den Hartog
Introduction A history of the Americas in the colonial period must wrestle with a wide-ranging, varied, and ultimately fascinating story. Although beginning with the Native Americans, the story must soon deal with colonists and colonizers from several European nations. Colonists… -
Colonial and Revolutionary America
by J. Patrick Mullins
UNIVERSITY STATEMENTS Academic Integrity By accepting this syllabus, you pledge to uphold the principles of Academic Integrity expressed by the University community. You agree to observe these principles yourself and to defend them against abuse by others. … -
Colonial and Revolutionary America
by J. Patrick Mullins
UNIVERSITY STATEMENTS Academic Integrity By accepting this syllabus, you pledge to uphold the principles of Academic Integrity expressed by the Marymount University Community. You agree to… -
Constitutional Democracy
by Steven Smith
Course Description: Democracy and constitutional government have not always enjoyed an easy relationship. Democracy is based on the doctrine of popular sovereignty and rule of the people, while constitutions are forms or formalities designed to check… -
Early America to the Civil War
by Phil Hamilton
This survey course will examine American History from the age of European exploration to the conclusion of the American Civil War. -
Early US History
by Christopher Anadale
Introduction This course covers the history of the United States from settlement to the end of the Civil War, with special focus on the U.S. Constitution, its origin and influence. Course Objectives After taking this course, you will be able… -
Foundations of American Thought
by Paul Ulrich
Required Texts *Herodotus, Aristotle, Plato on democracy (handout) *Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (Mansfield/Winthrop, eds.) *John Locke, Second Treatise of Government (Macpherson, ed.) *Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography (Silverman, ed.) *Declaration of Independence(in Federalist volume) *The Federalist Papers (Rossiter, ed.) *Frederick… -
Introduction to American Government
by Carl Scott
As befits the college’s revolutionary-era establishment, this university's Government and Foreign Affairs department emphasizes understanding America’s founding principles and its Constitution. This course, which introduces the principles, structure, and practice of American government, is a prerequisite for many of the… -
Introduction to American Government
by Joseph S. Devaney
Course Objective This course is intended as an intensive introduction to the basic institutions and principles of American government, with particular attention to historical and constitutional foundations, political theory of the American Founding, federalism, separation of powers, civil rights and civil… -
Jacksonian America, 1815-1848
by Phil Hamilton
Jacksonian America, 1815-1848 Image1048|thumbnail|260px|center|Andrew Jackson Introduction Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) is often regarded at the father of the modern presidency. A man of enormous energy, vigor, and ambition, he was the first president who was born into poverty to rise to… -
Puritans and Planters: The American Colonial Experience
by Chris Esh
Course Description: This seminar-style course will focus on the cultural, religious, and intellectual sources of American identity in its colonial history. It develops in detail the foundations of this identity in the Puritan, Planter, Quaker, African, and Backcountry migrations to British… -
Soft Despotism, Democracy's Drift
by Paul Rahe
This is an advanced course on the modern liberal, commercial republic as it is represented in the thinking of Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Tocqueville. It assumes your familiarity with the general outlines of the history of political… -
The American Experiment
by Elizabeth Busch
Catalogue Description Interdisciplinary study of the ways in which American was, and is, an experiment in liberty. The course critically examines civil life in America by focusing both on the distinct challenges posed by self-government and the unique tensions created… -
The American Founding
by David Nichols
Course Goals and Objectives: This course will provide an in depth examination of the debates surrounding the American Revolution and the creation and ratification of the Constitution. It will look at the various strands of political thought… -
The American Presidency
by Joseph S. Devaney
This course is intended as an intensive introduction to the American presidency, with particular attention to historical and constitutional foundations, the history of the presidency, the scope of executive authority in a system based on separation of powers, presidential elections… -
The Civil War and the Re-Founding of America
by Michael P. Krom
Introduction The Civil War was not just an attempt to work a solution to the problem of slavery left unresolved by the founding era; the war also grew out of a difference of opinion concerning the nature of the American… -
The History of Conservative Thought
by William English
Introduction The aim of this seminar is to develop a historical understanding of the evolution of ideas and conflicts within "conservative" circles of political thought with an eye towards critically evaluating their present relevance to contemporary politics and social analysis.… -
The Rise and Fall of American Slavery
by Phil Hamilton
Introduction and Course Description Image1813|thumbnail|240px|right|Sale of Enslaved Africans and Transport to Slave Ship In 1756, Olaudah Equaino was eleven years old. That year, while living in his small village in what is now Nigeria, he and his younger sister were… -
U.S. History to 1877
by Jonathan Den Hartog
Introduction Origins matter. In this class, we will consider the origins of the United States and trace its early history. These events helped set parameters which later generations of Americans have affirmed, contested, and even restructured. Knowledge of such origins… -
US History to 1877
by Thomas Kidd
Course Description: A study of the history of colonial North America and the United States from the period of European contact through Reconstruction. Emphasis is placed on political, social and economic developments. Required Materials: Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman and… -
Virginia and the Old South
by J. Patrick Mullins
UNIVERSITY POLICY STATEMENTS Academic Integrity By accepting this syllabus, you pledge to uphold the principles of Academic Integrity expressed by the University community. You agree to observe these principles yourself and to defend them against abuse by others. …
Course level: 300
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American Government and Politics
by Jim Harrigan
Course Objectives In this course we will examine the theoretical underpinnings of American government and the unique brand of democracy which that thought has brought about. We will examine the role of government in America in several different time periods… -
American Intellectual History
by Jay Langdale
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American Revolution and Early Republic, 1775-1820
by Phil Hamilton
Introduction and Course Description: Image982|thumbnail|280px|right|Signing of Declaration of Independence How do we make sense of Thomas Jefferson as an American revolutionary? As a young man in 1776, he had stirred the world with the radical words "we hold these truths… -
Religion in America
by Thomas Kidd
Course Description: A study of the variety and persistence of American religious beliefs and practices from the meeting of European and Native American peoples in the 16th century to the turn of the 21st century. Required Materials: Harry Stout…
Course level: 100
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Civil Liberties
by Chris Wolfe
COURSE OBJECTIVES: This is a constitutional law course that focuses especially on civil liberties. The areas that we will be studying this semester include the incorporation of the Bill of Rights into Fourteenth Amendment due process, freedom of speech, freedom… -
Political Science 100-03 : Principles of American Politics
by Jim Harrigan
Course Objectives In this course we will examine the principles of American politics through a careful consideration of the American Founding. We will consider both the abstract principles which animated the creation of the American regime and the regime itself… -
The Classical Roots of American Culture
by David Pollio
Course Description Classical Greece and Rome have had a profound influence on many aspects of western civilization, in general, and American culture, in particular. From the time of the first European settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts through the early national period and…
Course level: 200
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Freedom's Foundations I
by Mark Mitchell
I. Description & Purpose This course traces the development of the concept of freedom from its roots in the ancient world up to the French Revolution. We will examine the Hebrew, Greek, and Roman roots of liberty, the expansion of liberty… -
Freedom's Foundations II
by Mark Mitchell
I. Description & Purpose A continuation of GOV 213 this course takes up the traditional concept of liberty as understood by the American Founders and contrasts it with various rival concepts of “liberty.” Students will study the claims of Marxism, nihilism… -
Political Science 245: The American Presidency
by Jim Harrigan
Course Objectives: In this course we will examine the Presidency of the United States in both design and practice. We will begin with the United States Constitution and The Federalist in an effort to understand the design features of the…
Course level: 400
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The American Founding
by Jim Harrigan
Course Objectives: Historians have long disagreed on the nature of the America Founding. The facts are easily accessible, but no definitive interpretation of the Founding has yet emerged. In this course we will examine a good number of the…
 | Abraham Lincolnby Phil Hamilton Abraham Lincoln remains one of the most important figures in American history for his presidential leadership during the crisis of the Civil War. Born in 1807 in slaveholding Kentucky, Lincoln moved at the age of eight to the free state… |
| Alien and Sedition Actsby Phil Hamilton In the summer of 1798, the United States was close to war with France. Many members of the Federalist Party, including President John Adams and Federalist leaders in Congress, not only believed that their Democratic-Republican opponents were pro-French, but that… |
| American Revolutionary Warby Phil Hamilton The American victory in the Revolutionary War was one of the most stunning events of the eighteenth century. Although committed to the cause of independence, American patriots entered the conflict disorganized, ill-equipped and facing a formidable foe. Thus, the American… |
| American SlaveryAlthough slavery in British-America had existed since the early 1600s, the institution changed dramatically in the generations which following the Revolutionary War. Intellectual, economic, political, and religious transformations led to alterations in attitudes about slavery as well as to changes… |
| Boston Massacreby Phil Hamilton The "Boston Massacre" was a crucial event that helped propel the American colonies toward war and independence. The "massacre" occurred in March 1770 as a result of the volatile mix of angry American mobs and nervous British troops. In 1768… |
| Boston Tea Partyby Phil Hamilton The Boston Tea Party of 1773 is one of the most important protests in American history. It began ironically over a British statute which sought to lower the cost of tea to American consumers. The origins of the crisis stretched… |
| Declaration of Independenceby Phil Hamilton The Declaration of Independence, authored chiefly by Thomas Jefferson, remains the central document of the United States of America. Influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment, Jefferson primarily drew from the natural rights principles of the English philosopher John Locke.… |
| Election of 1860 |
| EmancipationThe emancipation of African-American slaves in the 1863 during President Lincoln's administration represented the nation fulfilling the ideals and principles articulated in the Declaration of Independence of 1776. The nation's journey to the Emancipation Proclamation was a long and difficult… |
| Era of Good Feelingsby Phil Hamilton The "Era of Good Feelings" refers to the period from 1815 to 1824. During these years, the United States was politically governed by national leaders who all belonged to the Republican Party of Thomas Jefferson. The era ended in 1824… |
| Franklin in Paris |
| George Washingtonby Phil Hamilton Born into a modest Virginia gentry family, George Washington(1732-1799) emerged as the most important figure in America's revolutionary struggle. His accomplishments were twofold: 1) he bravely led the Continental Army to its military victory over the British in the War… |
| Gettysburgby Phil Hamilton The battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863) was the most important struggle of the Civil War. After three days of fighting, Gen. George Meade's Army of the Potomac defeated Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Following his defeat… |
| Jacksonian Democracy |
| Lexington and Concordby Phil Hamilton In early April 1775, General Thomas Gage, commander of British troops in Boston, received orders from the British government to arrest prominent Patriot leaders in Massachusetts as well as to confiscate military supplies local militia units were stockpiling. Although Gage… |
| Lincoln-Douglas Debatesby Phil Hamilton In 1858, Abraham Lincoln and Stephan Douglas engaged in seven debates in a race for a U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. Although Douglas was regarded as the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 1860, he struggled in… |
| Second Bank of the United States |
| Stamp Act Crisisby Phil Hamilton The Stamp Act of 1765 was part of Great Britain's effort to strengthen imperial control over the empire and to raise additional revenues following the Seven Years War (better known as the French and Indian War). The act, however, sparked… |
November 2009
- "Hustler" Nation by Phil Hamilton
- Introducing The Subfields of Political Science: Big Questions for Contemporary Politics, Part V by John von Heyking
July 2009
- Christianity and the American Founding by anonymous
June 2009
- Teaching Colonial/Revolutionary American History by anonymous
- Teaching the Philadelphia Convention with Madison's "Notes" by anonymous
- The Hemingses of Monticello by Phil Hamilton
July 2008
- "Rise and Fall of American Slavery" syllabus by Phil Hamilton