Antebellum, Civil War & Reconstruction

Governor of Tennessee, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and eleventh president of the United States, James K. Polk was a fierce Jacksonian who expanded the nation’s boundaries more than anyone since Thomas Jefferson. He is remembered today as one of the strongest presidents of the... More

Now with links to Library of Congress manuscript facsimilesAndrew Jackson was born near the border of the colonial Carolinas and would take part in many of the early republic’s signal events, but he came to define a new era in American history and left the presidency forever changed.Orphaned... More

In the current “age of impeachment,” Andrew Johnson has gained a new historical relevance. But Johnson’s career is notable for more than his impeachment, with much to tell us about Civil War–era politics and the complexity of Reconstruction, through a trajectory that is one of the most compelling,... More

Born in the final days of the American Revolution, Daniel Webster would leave his mark on the following century, of which he was one of its mightiest statesmen. His remarkable life and career illustrate like few others the central issues of that century, especially the growing rift that would... More

Ulysses S. Grant never intended to make a career in the military, much less go into politics, but he ended up commanding the U.S. forces in perhaps the most important war America ever fought and then serving as its eighteenth president during a period of profound change.    Following... More