Mark Grimsley of Ohio State University examines the military significance of the Civil War in terms of general U.S. military history, especially the ways in which it differed from other American wars. This lecture was part of "What Students Need To Know About America’s Wars, Part I: 1622-1919: A History Institute for Teachers, held July 26-27, 2008, at the First Division Museum in Wheaton, IL, sponsored by the Foreign Policy Research Institute's Wachman Center and by the Cantigny First Division Foundation.

Video and audio options are available. Note that the "Listen to streaming MP3 audio" option links to a lecture on the Mexican-American War. However, audio is available by selecting "Download MP3 audio file."

Paul Springer of the U.S. Military Academy discusses the significance of the Mexican-American War to U.S. history, looking at how little most students know about and arguing the war is mis- and underrepresented in many texts. This lecture was part of "What Students Need To Know About America’s Wars, Part I: 1622-1919: A History Institute for Teachers, held July 26-27, 2008, at the First Division Museum in Wheaton, IL, sponsored by the Foreign Policy Research Institute's Wachman Center and by the Cantigny First Division Foundation.

Video and audio options are available.

Kyle Zelner of the University of Southern Mississippi discusses the military history of British North America prior to the Revolutionary War, arguing for the significance of this history to both military and general U.S. history overall. Zelner also covers the Revolutionary War itself. This lecture was part of "What Students Need To Know About America's Wars, Part I: 1622-1919: A History Institute for Teachers," held July 26-27, 2008, at the First Division Museum in Wheaton, IL, sponsored by the Foreign Policy Research Institute's Wachman Center and by the Cantigny First Division Foundation.

Video and audio options are available.

This lecture, created by the Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project, follows Abraham Lincoln's early life, including his family's arrival in Illinois, his first political campaign, his participation in the Black Hawk War, his time as a postmaster and surveyor, his election to the state legislature, and his beginning to study law. This lecture continues from the lecture "Lincoln's Biography, Part One: Boyhood and Migration, 1809–1830."

To view this documentary, select "Indian Fighting and Politics in New Salem, 1831-1836" under "Multimedia Slideshows."

This lecture, created by the Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project, outlines Abraham Lincoln's early years, including his childhood in Indiana, move to Illinois, participation in the Black Hawk War, election to the state legislature, work as a lawyer, political campaigning, marriage to Mary Todd, and reaction to the Mormon War.

This lecture, created by the Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project, traces the development of religious institutions and trends in antebellum Illinois, beginning with the early days of Western exploration of North America and continuing to the mid-1800s. It focuses particularly on the importation of New England Protestant social reform ideals and the migration of Mormons to Illinois—a migration which led to the rise of the city of Nauvoo and, eventually, to the Mormon War.

This lecture, created by the Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project, traces the settlement of Illinois from the early years of European exploration of North America to the 1860s. It focuses particularly on the relationship between settler groups and Native Americans, on the construction of infrastructure that linked Illinois to the rest of the emerging U.S., and on the changing culture of the state's occupants.

This lecture, created by the Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project, traces the history of Native American tribes in Illinois, from the early days of Western North American exploration into the mid-1800s.

Edward L. Ayers of the University of Virginia looks at Northern and Southern responses to John Brown's Raid and John Brown's execution, focusing on the regional differences the responses brought to the fore and media manipulation of these responses.

To view this clip, select "John Brown's Raid and the American Sectional Crisis" under "Political Development Video."