The man who invented the earliest examples of chemical engineering was an American-born, French-educated, free man of color before the Civil War, and went on to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics. There is something of...

Is the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) good for America? The informative website is a one-stop shop for ACLU debate resources. Scholars read about the topics surrounding the issue, including free speech, national security, and...

In this social studies worksheet, students learn about Lincoln's delivery of the Gettysburg Address by first reading an information paragraph about the history of the speech. Students then read the complete text of the speech. There are...

From H.L. Mencken's "The American Language," this site examines Webster's contribution to the study of language and spelling in the United States. Covers the history of Webster's works and summarizes his philosophy and advocacy for...

Read an overview of the pre-Civil War women's rights movement in a student essay in an historical journal from Loyola University. Find out about specific activists prominent during this time period and learn about their attempts to...

Describes what the South was like after the Civil War ended. Many places were in ruins and people were desperately poor with many being homeless. Social structures had collapsed now that slaves had been freed. The Reconstruction era...

The Civil War that raged across the nation from 1861 to 1865 was the violent conclusion to decades of diversification. Gradually, throughout the beginning of the nineteenth century, the North and South followed different paths,...

A good description of the beginnings of the Republican Party before the Civil War, and the transformation to Radical Republicanism during Reconstruction as they attempted to guarantee equal rights for African Americans. Information is...

People enslaved Africans for their enforced labor from before America's founding until the end of the Civil War. Learn about the history of slavery, its effects on a budding nation, and the fight to abolish it. This collection includes...

A discussion of how the political balance kept shifting as free and slave states were admitted to the Union prior to the 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...

Provides information concerning African American rights in the California gold country before the Civil War.

Scroll through this article to "Secession in the Upper South" to find out what was happening in southern states that had not yet seceded before April, 1861, and what convinced these states to secede. From an article by William L. Barney...

A detailed biography of the life of Leon Trotsky. Discusses his life before the Russian Revolution, his political accomplishments afterwards, his opposition to Stalinism, his exile and his assassination.

This biography of Robert E. Lee is part of a larger site about the Lee family plantation, Stratford Hall. Read about his personal life before and after the war. Included are links to his farewell address and information about the horses...

This biography of James A. Garfield covers his participation in the Civil War, terms in the House of Representatives, and tumultous time in the presidency, serving only four months before he was shot by a would-be assassin.

Before the Civil War, West Virginia was part of Virginia. What happened? Find historical facts and other lore from the Library of Congress.

Short description of Custer just before the Battle of the Little Bighorn, as well as a brief listing of information about his military career.

Before the Battle of Shiloh, many people believed that the Civil War wouldn't last long. But on April 6 and 7, 1862, two massive armies collided on this out-of-the-way piece of land in Hardin County. By the time the battle ended, nearly...

Features a summary of the life of Harriet Tubman, an American bondwoman who escaped from slavery in the South to become a leading abolitionist before the American Civil War.

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Hinton Rowan Helper, the only prominent American Southern author to attack slavery before the outbreak of the American Civil War (1861-65). His thesis widely influenced Northern opinion...