Historical Research Library

Discover the people, events, and key documents that shaped the Founding Era.

Singers and dancers focused on Chris Jackson playing George Washington

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“To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth,” by Phillis Wheatley, in Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, London, 1773 (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History)

Phillis Wheatley’s Poem on Tyranny and Slavery, 1772

An eloquent condemnation of oppression and slavery, written for the British secretary of state for the colonies, showcasing Wheatley’s literary talent, and advocacy for freedom

Key Document

Map showing Howe's attack on Washington's forces on Long Island, August 1776 (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC04177)

New York and New Jersey Campaigns, 1776

A series of Revolutionary War military actions in which British forces gained control over New York and New Jersey

Event

New York African Free-School No. 2, based on a drawing by a student, from The History of the New-York African Free-School, by Charles C. Andrews, 1830 (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History)

Founding the New-York Manumission Society, 1785

Establishing an organization to advocate gradual abolition of slavery, educate free Black people, and prevent them from being sold into slavery

Event

US Constitution, printed by Dunlap & Claypoole, September 17, 1787 (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History)

United States Constitution, 1788

A unique framework for a new government based on the idea of the consent of the governed

Key Document

Thomas Jefferson (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History)

Thomas Jefferson on Manumitting Slaves, 1789

Letter sent from Paris reflecting on freeing slaves—revealing his conflicting beliefs on liberty and equality amid the revolution

Supporting Document

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or, Gustavas Vassa, the African, Written by Himself, by Olaudah Equiano, 1789 (1809 edition) (Courtesy of Burns Library, Boston College)

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, 1789

Autobiography detailing Olaudah Equiano’s enslavement, his journey to freedom, and fight against the slave trade

Key Document

A 19th-century engraving of the Hamilton-Burr Duel (Granger)

Hamilton-Burr Duel, 1804

A fatal confrontation between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr that stemmed from political and personal animosities and shaped American political history

Event