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The Dirksen Congressional Center
An effective site that provides non-partisan information concerning Congress and its leaders. The website includes CongressLink, up-to-date information on the US Congress; Congress for Kids, an excellent resource for younger students on...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Freedom: A History of Us: A Fatal Contradiction Webisode 5
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.
Mount Holyoke College
Mt. Holyoke: Reconstruction Timeline
Here's a concise timeline that highlights the important facets of reconstruction from the announcement of Abraham Lincoln's reconstruction plans to the end of reconstruction at the election of Rutherford B. Hayes.
OpenStax
Open Stax: The Union Triumphant
This section of a chapter on "The Civil War" describes the reasons why many Americans doubted that Abraham Lincoln would be reelected and explains how the Union forces overpowered the Confederacy.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Secession
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart describes events leading to secession, including John Brown's Raid, Lincoln's election, and South Carolina's break with the Union. It also includes information on the first states to...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: Price of Freedom: 1860 Campaign Ribbon
View a photo a 1860 Campaign Ribbon and read a brief description of the contentious election of 1860. Displayed in the National Museum of American History.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: "With Malice Toward None"
A four-page discussion of Reconstruction from the plans Lincoln made while the Civil War was still raging to the end of Reconstruction with the election of Rutherford B. Hayes.
University of Chicago
Special Collections Library: Stephen A. Douglas and the American Union
Provides information about the Great Debate between Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln.
Other
Vox: 37 Maps That Explain the American Civil War
April 1865 was a momentous month in American history. On April 9, the Confederate army under Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Union forces of Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the Civil War. Then on April 14, the victorious President...
US Department of State
Bureau of International Information Programs: History Outline: Sectionalism
Article reviews several conditions of American society that sowed the seeds of civil war, particularly slavery and sectional conflict.
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Comission
Explore Pa History: Pennsylvania Democrats
A good look at the views of the Democratic Party in Pennsylvania just prior to and during the Civil War. Read about Democratic president from Pennsylvania, James Buchanan, and his views about the importance of slavery in the national...
Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museum
Rutherford B. Hayes Center: Who Is James K. Polk?
This page features an analysis of the Democratic Party's decision to nominate the relatively unknown James Polk for their presidential candidate in 1844. This article gives insight into the political atmosphere of the time.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Political Divisions
[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...
Lone Star Junction
Lone Star Junction: Texas Ordinance of Secession (February 2, 1861)
This site gives the text of the Texas Ordinance of Secession after the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. It gives the reasons Texas secedes from the Union. See the parallels to the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
Library of Congress
Loc: "I Do Solemnly Swear"
An online exhibit of historically pertinent items dealing with the inauguration of a number of US Presidents.
US National Archives
Our Documents: A National Initiative on American History, Civics, and Service
Our Documents is home to one hundred milestone documents that influenced that course of American history and American democracy. Includes full-page scans of each document, transcriptions, background information on their significance, and...
Harp Week
The End of Slavery: The Creation of the 13th Amendment
What a wonderful resource for researching the attempts to solve the issue of slavery prior to the Civil War, and the eventual ratification of the 13th Amendment. Find a timeline of legislation limiting the spread of slavery from 1787...
Department of Defense
Do Dea: Ap Us History: Unit 4: A House Divided
This extensive learning module examines how the United States became more connected with the world as it pursued an expansionist foreign policy, became the destination for many new immigrants, and encouraged migration to the Pacific...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "A Nation Divided: North vs. South" by Us history.org
The American Civil War was fought within the United States from 1861 to 1865. The election of President Abraham Lincoln in 1860 increased tension between the North and South. Lincoln's political party was interested in stopping the...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The South Secedes
South Carolina was the first to secede upon the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Read about the secession of more states, the election of a president of the new Confederate States of America, and a last ditch effort to save the union.
Library of Congress
Loc: Documentary Heritage of the Civil War
Part of a larger effort to document the Civil War through primary resources consisting of personal narratives, Part I covers the "election of Abraham Lincoln, the secession crisis, the outbreak of hostilities, mobilizing for war, and...
Wikimedia
Wikipedia: Stephen A. Douglas
he A lengthy biography of Stephen Douglas. Discusses his involvement in politics, in particular, his involvement with the slavery issue, his runs for presidency, his famous debates, and much more.