John F. Kennedy would be elected in November, 1960, as the youngest president ever voted into office. Here read about the Democratic convention, the debates between Kennedy and Richard Nixon, and find out about the issues of the...

Discussion of the Lincoln Douglas Debates, a series of seven public debates held in 1858 between Republican Abraham Lincoln and Democrat Stephen Douglas as they contested the Illinois Senate seat.

Learn about the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Passed in 1854, it reopened the debate over the expansion of slavery in the United States.

Provides biographical facts about Stephen Arnold Douglas in bulleted list format.

What are the "big questions" of Reconstruction? Article provides an overview of the Reconstruction period when Americans debated rights and the nature of freedom and equality. It focuses on who was an American and how citizenship should...

Examines the circumstances surrounding Texas's entry into the Union in 1845 as a slave state. It was an uneasy union, with ongoing controversy around the issue of slavery. This lasted through the Mexican-American War and helped to...

Examine the rights and responsibilities of a citizen in a democratic system and those guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Consider the conditions of war and debate the pros and cons of the wartime curtailment of civil liberties.

A learning module on the emancipation of African American slaves after the Civil War. It includes several supporting questions accompanied by formative tasks and source materials, followed by a summative performance task. Students will...

[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart details the growing political divisions in the United States in the decade before the Civil War. It includes information on the election of 1856, the Dred Scott Decision, the Lincoln...

This site has a comprehensive overview of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S., including information on Osama bin Laden's background, the formation of Al Qaeda, the attacks themselves, the US response, civil liberties and national...

Discusses Kennedy's rise to power and the challenges he faced from within the government, his focus on foreign policy, the conflict with Cuba, American involvement in Vietnam, support for racial equality and civil rights, and Kennedy's...

Webisode 5 - A Fatal Contradiction. The history of the United States is presented in a series of webisodes, within each are a number of segments.Included are links to lesson plans, teacher guides, resources, activities, and tools.

As with most other debates leading up to the Civil War, the debate about states' rights in reference to nullifying federal laws, ostensibly about tariffs, was really about the future of slavery in the South. Read about the issues of...

Harriet Tubman is best known for the Underground Railroad, but she also served critical roles in our federal government during the Civil War and requested a federal pension for her work. Congress debated whether or not to extend to her a...

Writing in the 1840s, Lydia M. Child tells the story of ex-slavers living in Virginia. Demonstrates the complexity of the abolition debate in Pre-Civil War America.

Explains the background for the Dred Scott case and its journey through the court system, finally reaching the US Supreme Court.

This site provides historical information and pictures regarding the Fifth Lincoln Douglas debate in 1858.

Article reports on the chaos in the Republican party, and the long term effects this presidential election season could have on the GOP.