Government and Civics

Essays

Cover of Puck, November 25, 1903. (Library of Congress)

A History of the Thanksgiving Holiday

Author: Catherine Clinton Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+
US Supreme Court Building, Washington, DC (Carol M. Highsmith Archive, LOC)

The Form and Function of the Supreme Court

Author: Charles Anthony Smith Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+
Destruction of the statue of George III in New York, 1776. (GLC)

The Invention of the Fourth of July

Author: David Waldstreicher Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics, World History Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+
View All

Featured Primary Sources

Posting bond for manumission of a slave, May 5, 1757 (Gilder Lehrman Collection)

A bond for the manumission of a slave, 1757

Creator: Eve Scurlock Curriculum Subjects: Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+
“The Bostonian’s Paying the Excise-man, or Tarring & Feathering,” (GLC04961.01)

A British view of rebellious Boston, 1774

Creator: Philip Dawe Curriculum Subjects: Art, Government and Civics, World History Grade Levels:
Lucy Knox to Hannah Urquhart, April 1777. (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of Ameri

A family torn apart by war, 1777

Creator: Lucy Knox Curriculum Subjects: Grade Levels: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+
View All

Multimedia

America at the End of the 20th Century, Part 1

An Overview of Key Moments in the Separation of Powers and the Supreme Court; Federalism and the Two Court Systems

Anti-Federalism and Dissent in Constitutional History

View All

Interactive Features

Electing the President

Freedom: A History of US

Lincoln Speaks: Words That Transformed a Nation

View All

Teaching Resources

A Different Perspective on Slavery: Writing the History of African American Slave Women

Curriculum Subjects: Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

A Lesson on Détente

Curriculum Subjects: World History Grade Levels: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

A Look at Slavery through Posters and Broadsides

Curriculum Subjects: Art Grade Levels: 6, 7, 8
View All