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American National Government: Democracy

Resources to help understand American political development.

Frederick Douglass

Image Credit: Collection of the New-York Historical Society

Frederick Douglass
PBS People & Events
Virtual Museum Exhibit
This exhibit 'showcases Frederick Douglass' life at Cedar Hill, Anacostia, Southeast Washington, D.C., his last home'.

Martin Luther King

Kings Letter from Birmingham Jail

CREDIT: "[Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., behind bars in jail in St. Augustine, Florida]." United Press International telephoto, 1962. Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress.

King's Letter from Birmingham Jail

Democracy

Core Documents of Democracy
This online collection, complied by West Texas A&M's Cornette Library, provides American citizens with direct access to important Federal Government documents that define our democratic society.

Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine
Common Sense
In "Common Sense" Paine spoke to the ordinary American, challenged the authority of the British government and monarchy, and wrote what is considered to be the first work asking for independance from Great Britain.

John Locke

John Locke
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy : Locke's Political Philosophy focuses on seven central concepts in Locke's political philosophy.

Civil War

Library of Virginia: Political/Colonial Exhibit

Virginia Political /Colonial Exhibit

Seneca Falls Convention

Seneca Falls Convention
Women's struggle for equal rights led to the First Women's Rights Convention, held at the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, NY on July 19 and 20, 1848

Shay's Rebellion

Shay's Rebellion
This site tells the story of Shays' Rebellion, and a crucial period in our nation's founding. The Shays’ Rebellion website is the result of a collaboration among Springfield Technical Community College (STCC), the Springfield Armory, and the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association (PVMA).