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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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Daniel Shays and Job Shattuck, 1787, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Shays’ Rebellion, 1786

An armed uprising by indebted Massachusetts farmers protesting economic injustice and demanding debt relief

Event
Detail from the Bill of Rights. (National Archives)

Bill of Rights, 1791

The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution—hard-fought additions that protect some individual liberties and limit government power

Key Document
“Washington Reviewing the Western Army at Fort Cumberland, Maryland,” attributed to Frederick Kemmelmeyer, 1795 (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Whiskey Rebellion, 1794

Pennsylvania farmers violently resisted a federal whiskey tax—illustrating the tensions between frontiersmen and the new government’s authority

Event
Engraving of Abigail Adams, n.d. (Gilder Lehrman Collection)

Abigail Adams

Influential First Lady, advocate for women’s rights, and prolific writer

Person
Samuel Adams, from "An Impartial History of the War in America," 1780 (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History)

Samuel Adams

One of the first Americans to challenge British rule and resist their policies in the 1760s and 1770s

Person
John Adams, by John Trumbull, 1793 (National Portrait Gallery)

John Adams

A leading proponent of independence, a congressman, a diplomat, and the second President of the United States

Person
Detail of Richard Allen, "From the plantation to the Senate," lithograph by Gaylord Watson, 1883 (Library of Congress)

Richard Allen

Prominent Philadelphia advocate for abolition and civil rights and founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church

Person
Nathanael Greene, based on a portrait by Alonzo Chappel (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History)

Nathanael Greene

Trusted aide to George Washington known for strategic brilliance and Revolutionary War victories

Person
 Alexander Hamilton, John Trumbull Copy after: Giuseppe Ceracchi 1806, National Portrait Gallery

Alexander Hamilton

A poor immigrant from the Caribbean who became a key figure in the Revolution and in establishing the US government

Person
Portrait of King George III by Thomas Frye (The Gilder Lehrman Collection)

George III

King of Great Britain viewed as a tyrant by colonists and a symbol of imperial rule

Person