“We are coming, Father Abraham, Three Hundred Thousand More.” This was the memorable opening line of an 1862 poem (and later popular song) by James Sloan Gibbons that signified the enthusiasm of some in the North for President Lincoln’s decisive call for more troops after more than a year of Civil War. Lincoln was father […]
Search results: "Megan VanGorder"
Contributing Editors for this page include Megan VanGorder Ranking #99 on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents Annotated Transcript “It is with deep grief that I learn of the death of your kind and brave Father; and, especially, that it is affecting your young heart beyond what is common in such cases. In […]
Here are some of the very best projects submitted in recent years by participants who joined the “Understanding Lincoln,” online graduate course. This course, organized around our site “Lincoln’s Writings,” is jointly sponsored by the House Divided Project at Dickinson College and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Please feel free to share these special multi-media […]
The following people have contributed a wide range of editorial content to the Lincoln’s Writings site. You can view their particular contributions by clicking on their names below. All of these editors have been graduate student participants in Matthew Pinsker’s “Understanding Lincoln,” online course from the Gilder Lehrman Institute, or undergraduate students in Pinsker’s American history classes at Dickinson […]
Overview The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have been adopted by a vast majority of states for their K-12 public schools. They are designed to promote higher standards in reading and math in order to help American students perform better on international assessments of learning and become more competitive in the global economy. Common Core […]
Overview Most states adopted their own History or Social Studies standards or expectations for learning objectives. The National History Education Clearinghouse maintains a useful and searchable database of these standards. “Searchable” in this case is quite helpful, because it allows us to seek out “Abraham Lincoln” in various standards. You can check out those […]
Below is a sample from the most recent syllabus our online graduate course, summarizing the course experience in 2016. HISTORY 579 (via Gilder Lehrman Institute) Understanding Lincoln // Summer 2016 Lead Scholar: Matthew Pinsker (Dickinson College) Teaching Assistants: Aaron Bell, Joseph Murphy and Todd Mealy COURSE DESCRIPTION No one would have appreciated the power of […]
Historical Background The U.S. Constitution does not employ the phrase “war powers,” but it does grant Congress the power to “declare war” in Article I, Section 8 and to create the armed forces. Yet the Framers clearly intended to leave the operational control of the military in the hands of the president. The Constitution explicitly describes […]
By Matthew Pinsker We are looking for a few good close readings at the Lincoln’s Writings website and through the Understanding Lincoln online graduate course, but what makes for a successful close reading of a Lincoln document? The term can mean different things in different disciplines. But for historians, there are typically three essential components for analyzing written primary […]