Donald L. Miller, with Pauline Maier and Waldo E. Martin, Jr., follow American history from the end of the French and Indian War through the American Revolution. On the way, they look at taxation and the Stamp Act, the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Continental Congresses, the Battles of Lexington and Concord, Thomas Paine's Common Sense and its effects, the Declaration of Independence, and the war itself.
Donald L. Miller, with Pauline Maier and Virginia Scharff, follow the growth of the British American colonies from 1663 to 1763, examining the expansion of the economy (and of the slave trade), population increase, the development of slave culture, social structure (particularly in the city of Philadelphia), political trends, the life of Benjamin Franklin, and the French and Indian War.
National Portrait Galley curator Sid Hart discusses Thomas Jefferson and John Adam's relationship, Jefferson's time as vice president, and his campaign for the presidency and contentious election.
In 12 short video clips, University of Maryland professor Whitman Ridgway demonstrates scholarly analysis of the Bill of Rights.
In 12 short video clips, ranging in length from approximately one minute to over three minutes, Brown University professors Gordon Wood and Michael Vorenberg look at the U.S. Constitution, the environment in which it was conceived, and its evolution over time. Intended to accompany the Choices Program's curriculum A More Perfect Union: American Independence and the Constitution, these clips may still be used independently.
Registration is required, but free.
In 37 short video clips, ranging in length from 43 seconds to over three minutes, scholars James Campbell, Keith Stokes, Joanne Pope Melish, Gordon Wood, and Michael Vorenberg look at the triangle trade that brought Africans to the U.S. as slaves and at perceptions of slavery in colonial New England, particularly examining the views of abolitionists. Intended to accompany the Choices Program's curriculum A Forgotten History: The Slave Trade and Slavery in New England, these clips may still be used independently.
Registration is required, but free.
Linda B. Osborne discusses her book, Traveling the Freedom Road, which draws on interviews with former slaves in the Library of Congress collections to convey the aspirations, sorrows, courage, and hopes of ordinary people living through this period. More than 80 archival images complement the text. Major events covered include the rise of the domestic slave trade, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Republican Congress' Reconstruction policies.
In this Face-to-face Talk, Ann Shumard of the National Portrait Gallery details the life of Samuel Morse (1791-1872), including his early interest in portraiture and art, his career as an inventor and his work on the telegraph, and his support of Louis Daguerre's daguerreotype.
Maurice Jackson discusses Anthony Benezet, the founder of the antislavery movement in America in the mid-1700s. Benezet believed the British ban on slavery should have been extended to the colonies, and worked to convince his Quaker brethren that slave-owning was not consistent with Christian doctrine.
Eighth-grade American history educator Eric Langhorst describes how he uses articles from a magazine produced by the Daughters of the American Revolution—American Spirit—in his classroom.