Historical Research Library
Discover the people, events, and key documents that shaped the Founding Era.
Explore our Resources
Filter by person, event, document, and theme.
A Biography of Captain Paul Cuffee, 1811
A biographical sketch printed in the Liverpool Mercury highlighting Cuffee’s activism
Supporting Document
Jemima Hunt Petitions the Virginia Assembly, 1811
A petition challenging the law that prevented emancipated people from remaining in Virginia
Supporting Document
Theodosia Burr Alston Mourns the Death of Her Son, 1812
A letter expressing grief over her son’s death and her doomed plans to visit Burr in New York
Supporting Document
Paul Cuffe Petitions to Send Ships to Sierra Leone, 1813
Black ship captain and businessman advocating colonies of free Black people in Africa
Supporting Document
Dolley Madison on John Quincy Adams’s State of the Union Address, 1827
A letter from Dolley Madison criticizing the State of the Union Address delivered by President John Quincy Adams
Supporting Document
James Madison to Biographer Jared Sparks on Washington and Hamilton, 1830
A letter sharing observations about two Founding Fathers
Supporting Document
The Autobiography of Richard Allen, 1833
The life of a leading Philadelphian from slavery to the founding of the African Methodist Episcopal Church
Supporting Document
John Quincy Adams on the Eulogy for James Madison, 1836
A letter requestion anecdotes and access to Madison’s memoirs to help prepare a eulogy
Supporting Document
An 1845 Lithograph of the Surrender of Cornwallis
Historically inaccurate lithograph depicting a symbolic surrender at Yorktown, Virginia
Supporting Document
The Widow Remembered, 1863
A memoir affectionately memorializing Elizabeth Hamilton
Supporting Document
Samuel Adams
One of the first Americans to challenge British rule and resist their policies in the 1760s and 1770s
Person