The November Milestone Docs newsletter is here
We’ve just launched the November issue of our Milestone Documents newsletter. This month the focus is on the Civil War and Reconstruction era. The figure of Abraham Lincoln dominates the period, as you might expect–both in the historical record in general as well as in the key documents from the period. Some of the most famous words in American history were penned by the Illinois statesman: just think of his “mystic chords of memory” (first inaugural address) or the “better angels of our memory” (ditto) or “with malice toward none; with charity toward all” (second inaugural address). By the way, there is a fantastic source of Lincoln papers available on the Web for free here.
Aside from Lincoln, though, the era also saw influential documents such as Dred Scott v. Sandford, the trio of amendments passed at the end of the war to protect African American rights (the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments), and the bitter fight over Reconstruction, as seen in the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Articles of Impeachment of Andrew Johnson. Fascinating stuff. Needless to say, the full texts of all of these documents are available (for free) on MilestoneDocuments.com.
Will next week witness the election of another Illinois statesman as president?