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US History

19th Century, 20th Century, Collection Essays

The Philippine-American War

Two-page spread of a small, lined notebook with handwritten text and drawings in blue pencil. The left-hand page is full of text, and the right-hand page has a drawing of Mayon volcano viewed from the sea.

Dr. Amy Kohout, Colorado College
June 5, 2026

19th Century, 20th Century, Collection Essays

New Lessons for a New Empire: Americans Learn about the Greater United States

Color map of the Pacific Ocean labeled "Our Islands in the Pacific Ocean"

Dr. Nicholas Kryczka
October 1, 2025

19th Century, Collection Essays

Power, Publication, and Liberation: Literature of the American Civil War

Page of printed text in two columns reading, "Speech of Mr. Frederick Douglass/ Mr. President and Fellow-Citizens--I shall not attempt to follow Judge Kelley and Miss Dickinson in their eloquent and thrilling appeals to colored men to enlist in the service of the United States. They have left nothing to be desired on that point. I propose to look at the subject in a plain and practical common-sense light. There are obviously two vices to be taken of such enlistments--a broad view and a narrow view. I am willing to take both, and consider both. The narrow view of this subject is that which represents the matter of dollars and cents. There are those among us who say they are in favor of taking a hand in this tremendous war, but they add they wish to do so on terms of equality with white men. They say if they enter the service, endure all the hardships, perils and suffering--if they make bare their breasts, and with strong arms and courageous hearts confront rebel cannons, and wring victory from the jaws of death, they should have the same pay, the same rations, the same bounty, and the same favorable conditions every way afforded to other men./ I shall not oppose this view. There is something deep down in the soul of every man present which assents to the justice of the claim thus made, and honors the manhood and self-respect which insists upon it. [Applause.] I say at once, in peace and in war, I am content with nothing for the black man short of equal and exact justice. The only question I have, and the point at which I differ from those who refuse to enlist, is whether the colored man is more likely to obtain justice and equality while refusing to assist in putting down this tremendous rebellion than he would be if he should promptly, generously and earnestly give his hand and heart to the salvation of the country in this its day of calamity and peril. Nothing can be more plain, nothing more plain, nothing more certain than that the speediest and best possible way to open us to manhood, equal rights and elevation, is that we enter this service. For my own part, I hold that if the Government of the United States offered nothing more, as inducement to colored men to enlist, than the bare subsistence and arms, considering the moral effect of compliance upon ourselves, it would be the wisest and best thing for us to enlist. [Applause.] There is something ennobling in the possession of arms, and we of all other people in the world stand in need of their ennobling influence./ The case presented in the present war, and the light in which every colored man is bound"

Michaela Corning-Myers
October 1, 2025

18th Century, 19th Century, 20th Century, Collection Essays

Documenting Birds in North America: Science, Art, and Culture

Black-and-white photo of two pigeons, one white or gray and one black, puffed up against the cold and sitting on the sidewalk at the edge of a grate.

Emily Hayflick
September 22, 2025

20th Century, Collection Essays

The Jungle and the Community: Workers and Reformers in Turn-of-the-Century Chicago

Black-and-white photo of white men and boys processing sausage. A man removes the sausage from a processing machine, and the boys hang it over a long rod.

Dr. John Hawkins with Hana Layson and James R. Barrett
August 20, 2025

19th Century, 20th Century, Collection Essays

Representing Indigenous Peoples in the Archive

Pencil ledger art drawing of two Indigenous people standing by a tipi on a riverbank. They are wearing colorful blankets, and there is a horse saddle and bridle nearby.

Dr. Mary Ludwig
August 20, 2025

13th Century, 14th Century, 15th Century, 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century, 19th Century, 20th Century, College Prep, High School, Lesson Plans

Indigenous Chicago Curriculum

Indigenous Chicago Project
December 20, 2024

19th Century, Classroom Materials, High School, Lesson Plans, Middle School

Indenture and Enslavement in Illinois

Indenture contract between John Posey and Phillis

Hilary Mac Austin
December 19, 2024

19th Century, Activities, High School, Lesson Plans, Middle School

Nineteenth-Century Currency

$1 bank note with illustrations (clockwise from top) of industrious white farmers, stateman Daniel Webster, and three Indigenous people.

Hilary Mac Austin
November 18, 2024

19th Century, 20th Century, Classroom Materials, College Prep, Lesson Plans

Causes and Impacts of the United States’ War with the Philippines

Postcard with image of Emilio Aguinaldo and short handwritten message

Janice Lobo Sapigao, Skyline College
September 13, 2024

19th Century, 20th Century, Classroom Materials, High School, Lesson Plans

US Imperialism in the Philippines

Sketch of the stern of ship with a large hole from an interior explosion in the side just above the waterline. Captioned "McCutcheon/Manila Bay/June 29-98"

Janice Lobo Sapigao, Skyline College
September 13, 2024

20th Century, Classroom Materials, Lesson Plans, Middle School

Black Childhood and the Great Migration

Hand-colored portrait of seven young Black men in basketball uniforms. Another Black man stands in the back row wearing a suit. The young man sitting in the front holds a basketball with the text "YMCA Champs 1921."

Dr. Michael Hines & Alexandrea Henry, Stanford University
September 12, 2024