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1741 New York Slave Uprisings
In the spring of 1741, white New Yorkers were certain that a series of suspicious fires were set by Black slaves or by members of the multi-racial poor community in the city. Trials were held resulting in deaths and deportations. Explore this event by examining the trial’s proceedings.
The Boston Massacre, 1770
Examine different accounts of the Boston Massacre and the ensuing trial to explore what actually happened in Boston the fateful night of March 5, 1770.
The Siege of Boston, 1775-1776
Explore the intensifying military conflict in the early months of the Revolution through the daily lives and eyewitness accounts of the people who lived through this tumultuous period.
The Haudenosaunee in the American Revolution, 1775-1794
Explore the Haudenosaunee’s (Iroquois’) diplomatic approaches to navigating the violence and disruption of the American Revolution and their postwar efforts to protect their lands from the encroachment of the new United States.
Freedom Suits in Revolutionary America
This kit allows you to explore Black freedom suits from the revolutionary era, as well as the writings of prominent Black intellectuals and thinkers from the years surrounding the American Revolution, as Black Americans sought to expand the conception of liberty and claim freedom for themselves, their families, and their communities.
Creating A New Nation: The Constitutional Convention, 1787-1789
This kit will allow you to explore the process of creating and ratifying the Constitution by reading the journals of prominent politicians and the vibrant public debates between those who supported and opposed the document.
Politics and Family Life in the Early US, John and Abigail Adams, 1796-1797
When he served as President and travelled between Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington DC, John and Abigail wrote to each other almost every day with frank advice and observations about what was going on in the new U.S. and in their private lives. The letters here are from the first year of Adam’s Presidency in 1797.
Slavery in Texas, 1836-1861
Texas, like other parts of the cotton south, was part of the vast expansion of African slavery in the decades between 1820 and 1850. Tensions quickly rose between these Anglo settlers and the government of Mexico, which repeatedly attempted to outlaw slavery in Texas, because slavery was illegal in the rest of Mexico.
Families and Goldrushers on the Overland Trail, 1849-1851
In 1849, the news of a gold discovery in California was announced in President Polk’s last state of the union address. That news sent hundreds of thousands of young men to leave their homes and farms and to walk, ride mules or horses, or take wagons to California. Very few found gold and while many men stayed in California, most returned home with empty pockets.