Historical Documents

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)
Caroline Churchill
"Little Sheaves" Gathered While Gleaning After Reapers. Being Letters of Travel Commencing in 1870, and Ending in 1873
ERA 3: Revolution and the New Nation (1754–1820s), ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861), ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877), ERA 6: The Development of the Industrial United States (1870-1900)
Cover Sheet Summarizing Disposition of the Dred Scott Case by the U.S. Supreme Court
Dred Scott v. Sandford
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)
The Narrative of Sojourner Truth
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Original Document of the Kansas-Nebraska Act
Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Corwin Amendment
Joint Resolution Proposing a 13th Amendment to the Constitution
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Tom McLaury, Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton (left to right) lie dead after the gunfight.
OK Corral Inquest Transcript Found in Arizona Jailhouse Store Room
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Homestead Act Commemorative Stamp
Homestead Act Commemorative Stamp
ERA 3: Revolution and the New Nation (1754–1820s), ERA 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861), ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877), ERA 6: The Development of the Industrial United States (1870-1900)
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)
Naturalization Convention Between the United States and Austria Hungry
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877), ERA 6: The Development of the Industrial United States (1870-1900)
Rail Splitter
“The Last Race of the Rail-Splitter,” Broadside, ca. 1861
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Rochester Evening Express, Editorial
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)
Josephine and Wyatt Earp’s grave, Hills of Eternity Memorial Park, Colma, CA.
Josephine and Wyatt Earp- Article
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Lincoln Address
Cooper Union Address
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis' Farewell Address
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)

Articles

“Your Brave and Early-Fallen Child…” (February/March 2004 | Volume: 55, Issue: 1)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Was Jefferson Davis Captured in a Dress? (Fall 2010 | Volume: 60, Issue: 3)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
The Great Dismal Swamp (April/May 2002 | Volume: 53, Issue: 2)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
George Kennan Exposes Russian Cruelty in Siberia (Winter 2024 | Volume: 69, Issue: 1)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Lincoln's Corrupt War Department (February/March 2021 | Volume: 66, Issue: 2)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Stonewall Jackson’s Arm (April/May 2005 | Volume: 56, Issue: 2)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
The Terrible Price of Freedom (April 1989 | Volume: 40, Issue: 3)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Quantrill’s Bones (July/August 1995 | Volume: 46, Issue: 4)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Looking Back Without Anger (March 1990 | Volume: 41, Issue: 2)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Dred Scott: the Supreme Court's Worst Decision (Winter 2021 | Volume: 66, Issue: 1)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Lincoln Refines American Democracy (Winter 2026 | Volume: 71, Issue: 1)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Grant Splits Dixie (Summer 2017 | Volume: 62, Issue: 1)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
The Pluck Heard 'Round the World (Winter 2010 | Volume: 59, Issue: 4)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
How I Met Lincoln (July/August 1999 | Volume: 50, Issue: 4)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Laying the First Transatlantic Cable (June/July 2002 | Volume: 53, Issue: 3)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
The South’s Inner Civil War (March 1989, Summer 2025 | Volume: 70, Issue: 3)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Haunted by Authors: Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (November/December 2022 | Volume: 68, Issue: 6)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
More Civil War at The National Archives (Winter 2011 | Volume: 60, Issue: 4)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Grant Takes on the Klan ( | Volume: 1, Issue: 1)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Exploring the Last Rebel Ground (April 1999 | Volume: 50, Issue: 2)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Lee’s Greatest Victory (March 1990 | Volume: 41, Issue: 2)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
The Civil War’s Greatest Scoop (July/August 1989 | Volume: 40, Issue: 5)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Digging Up Sunken Treasure Ships in the Missouri (April/May 2002 | Volume: 53, Issue: 2)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
A Lincoln Decoy (September 1994 | Volume: 45, Issue: 5)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Disenthralling Ourselves (April 1992 | Volume: 43, Issue: 2)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
General Longstreet and the Lost Cause (February/March 2005 | Volume: 56, Issue: 1)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
How We Got Lincoln (November 1988 | Volume: 39, Issue: 7)
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)

Historical Images

Lincoln Photo
Abraham Lincoln on the day of his speech at the Cooper Union
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Tragic Prelude
Tragic Prelude by John Steuart Curry
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Dodge City [Kans.] Peace Commissioners Camillus S. Fly, 1890
Dodge City [Kans.] Peace Commissioners Camillus S. Fly, 1890
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Cartoon
An Heir to the Throne, Or the Next Republican Candidate
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Custer’s Column of cavalry, artillery, and wagons
Custer’s Column of cavalry, artillery, and wagons
ERA 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)