Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson was principal author of the Declaration of Independence and third President of the United States from 1801 to 1809. Through his…
Notes on the State of Virginia
Thomas Jefferson originally offered his Notes on the State of Virginia in response to questions posed by the French ambassador in 1780. Since then,…
Horrid Massacre in Virginia
In August of 1831, seventy slaves in Southampton County, Virginia, revolted and killed 57 whites. The rebels and their leader, minister Nat Turner,…
John Brown's Body
Widely popular songs during the American Civil War possessed power because music reinforced or modified ideas. Each song provides glimpses into Civil…
Aunt Phillis's Cabin
Mary Henderson Eastman was born in 1818 in Warrenton, Virginia. In 1835 she married Seth Eastman, an artist and soldier best known for his artistic…
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe was born in 1811 in Litchfield, Connecticut. One of thirteen children born to a Calvinist minister and his deeply religious…
Anthony Burns
Anthony Burns, the fugitive slave, appears in a portrait at the center of this 1855. Burns’ arrest and trial, possible because of the 1850 Fugitive…
Southern Chivalry
This political cartoon by Philadelphia printer, John L. Magee, depicts an incident that occurred on the floor of the Senate on May 22, 1856. During a…
Dred Scott
Dred Scott’s Supreme Court case made clear that the federal government was no longer able or willing to ignore the issue of slavery. More than that,…
“I Wish I Was in Dixie”
Despite its unlikely origins, the folk song known as “Dixie” remains among the most iconic musical representations of the American South. Written by a…