Using stories from her prize-winning book, Doris Kearns Goodwin examines the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. Goodwin argues that Lincoln's voracious intellect, his kind and generous demeanor, his empathy, and his appreciation for the talents of others led him to assemble what she calls "the most unusual cabinet in history." Goodwin also provides an insider's look into her research methods, as she recounts combing through thousands of pages of letters and diaries.

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Anti-immigration feelings are captured in an 1891 cartoon that highlights Jewish and Italian immigration. Cartoon historian Josh Brown of the American Social History Project explains.

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Josh Brown of the American Social History Project examines a cartoon by Thomas Nast that lampoons the Democratic Party right after the Civil War.

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The November 6, 1869 issue of Harper's Weekly included this double-page cartoon that mocks the platform of the New York Democratic Party, including its opposition to the 15th Amendment. Josh Brown of the American Social History Project examines the details.

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This iCue Mini-Documentary describes how both the north and the south had to draft soldiers during the Civil War. Since the wealthy could buy their way out of being drafted, class tension erupted into draft riots.

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This iCue Mini-Documentary describes the results of the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s: one million people died, and another 1.5 million emigrated, mostly to the United States. These immigrants became reliant on the Catholic Church.

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Professor Edward T. O'Donnell analyzes an 1876 Harper's Weekly cartoon of an Irish immigrant, which reveals the racism of the day.

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Historian Carroll Gibbs discusses African American life in Georgetown prior to and just after the Civil War, looking at laws that discriminated against and segregated African Americans, at historic churches in the area, at records that suggest African Americans escaped from Georgetown by the Underground Railroad, and at reactions to African Americans' gaining the right to vote.

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This iCue Mini-Documentary describes the decades after Reconstruction. These years were a difficult time for African Americans, but new black leaders began to emerge in the 1800s who gave a voice to black suffering.

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