Explore an attempt at a slave uprising at Harpers Ferry to end slavery by John Brown during the Civil War on this site.

A brief overview of what was in store for the United States after the controversial Dred Scott decision.

Here is some brief information on the "Little Giant", also known as Stephen Douglas, and his senatorial career. The information is divided into three short pages.

The Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858 exemplified the rift in the nation concerning the issue of slavery and who should be able to determine whether states were free or slave. Read about this war of ideas that moved from the stage in...

Read about the attempt to keep slavery out of the newly acquired Mexican Cession, and so how this attempt revealed an increased split between North and South.

Presents key ideas for examining the events and issues that led to the American Civil War.

As new free and slave states were admitted to the Union prior to the Civil War, political divisions kept growing, despite attempts to balance the numbers of each. The South pushed for slavery to expand westward, while anti-slavery...

The years leading up to, during, and following the Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877) are most often remembered for the tension between North and South, the question of slavery, President Lincoln, and social and political changes...

This website was created by faculty, students, and staff to publicly present information about Columbia's historical connections to the institution of slavery. This article looks at the different approaches among Columbians to the...

This website was created by faculty, students, and staff to publicly present information about Columbia's historical connections to the institution of slavery. This article discusses the connection between Columbia's faculty to slavery....

Take this ten-question unit test over the period of 1844-1877 in US history.

Take this five question quiz over US history during the mid 1800s.

Political patronage was a big problem in the late 19th century and led to corruption within the government. This made it difficult to reform the civil service. Tariffs were another big issue and affected economic groups in different...

A lesson plan that addresses the "complex series of events" leading to the Civil War. Through this lesson, students will "gain an appreciation of everyday life in the North and South, changes occurring, and some of the major social and...

GDP per capita is GDP (Gross National Product) divided by population. Since GDP is measured in a country's currency, in order to compare different countries' GDPs, we need to convert them to a common currency. One way to compare...

This article on the government of Mauritania, based on information from the U.S. State Dept. Background Notes, discusses the difficulties in running a nation which is divided by ethnic tensions.

Steller sea lions are divided into two groups for conservation purposes. Those that live around Alaska and Russia are classified as endangered. Learn more about the Eumetopias jubatus, more commonly known as a Steller Sea Lion, in this...

Twenty tips for writers, slanted toward fiction, from the director of the National Writers' Workshop. Tips are divided into four areas: sentences and paragraphs, language, effects, and structure.

Palestinians inhabit an area east of the Mediterranean Sea and south of Lebanon. The Jordan River, Lakes Huleh and Tiberias, and the Dead Sea separate Palestine from Jordan. Christians refer to Palestine as "the Holy Land." Today...

The Tigray are the largest ethnic group in the Ethiopian province of Tigray and in the Eritrean nation. The Tigray have not been as thoroughly studied as their culturally similar neighbors, the Amhara, with whom they share an "imperial"...

Historic debates, both in substance and form, were held between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in the Illinois Senate race in 1858. Read about the debates, where tht two men stood on the issue of slavery, and its place in the...

Washington retired in 1797, firmly declining to serve for more than eight years as the nation's head. His vice president, John Adams of Massachusetts, was elected the new president. Even before he entered the presidency, Adams had...

As Missouri became a state, America was divided by slavery. This site from the Library of Congress offers a description of the events, as well as a railroad map, a painting of the Missouri Squadron, and a bust of Henry Clay, designer of...

As Missouri became a state, America was divided by slavery. This site from the Library of Congress offers a description of the events, as well as a railroad map, a painting of the Missouri Squadron, and a bust of Henry Clay, designer of...