Podcasts and Webinars
Webinars & Podcasts
Organized by era, our webinars and podcasts are recordings of document-based conversations between scholars and educators about the documents, events, people and ideas that populate American history. These resources are perfect for either professional development or use in the classroom.
- Colonial America
- The Revolution & Confederation
- The Founding
- Early Republic
- Expansion & Sectionalism
- Civil War & Reconstruction
- Industrialization and Urbanization
- Progressivism and World War I
- The Great Depression and the New Deal
- World War II
- Cold War America
- Contemporary America
Colonial America
| Topic | Links |
| Jonathan Edwards | Readings |
| Benjamin Franklin | Readings |
| Moments of Crisis: The Intolerable Acts | Readings |
| Patriots vs. Loyalists | Readings |
| American Presidents Series: George Washington, Father of the Country | Readings |
The Revolution & Confederation
| Topic | Links |
| Benjamin Franklin | Readings |
| George Washington: Father of the Country | Readings |
| Heroes of the American Founding: John & Abigail Adams | Readings |
| Patriots vs. Loyalists | Readings |
| Was the American Revolution really a revolution? | Readings |
| DiD: Declaration of Independence | Readings |
| Alexander Hamilton | Readings |
| The American Family in Times of Crisis: Education, Health Care, and the Trade-offs of Coming Home | Readings |
| DiD: Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom | Readings |
| DiD: James Madison’s Memorial and Remonstrance | Readings |
The Founding
Creating the Constitution
| Topics | Links |
| Is the Constitution Pro- or Anti-Slavery? | |
| Benjamin Franklin | Readings |
| DiD: Madison’s Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787 | Readings |
| Federalists vs. Antifederalists | Readings |
| Alexander Hamilton | Readings |
| DiD: Brutus I | Readings |
| DiD: Brutus II | Readings |
| DiD: Federalist 1 | Readings |
| DiD:James Madison’s Federalist 10 | Readings |
| DiD: Federalist 51 | Readings |
| James Madison: Statesman for Union and Constitutional Government |
Governing the Nation
| Webinars | Podcasts |
| The Power of the Pulpit in Times of Crisis: From the American Revolution to the Coronavirus | Readings |
| Heroes of the American Founding: John & Abigail Adams | Readings |
| Powers in Concert and Conflict: Congress and the President | Readings |
| The American Presidency: The Executive Power Defined | |
| George Washington: Father of the Country | Readings |
| Alexander Hamilton | Readings |
| James Madison’s Speech on the Proposed Amendments to the Constitution | Readings |
| DiD: Bill of Rights | Readings |
| Why are both the Constitution and the Bill of Rights essential? | Readings |
Early Republic
The Turbulent 1790s
| Topics | Links |
| DiD: The Pacificus-Helvidius Debates | |
| The American Presidency: George Washington, Father of the Country | Readings |
| DiD: “Property” | Readings |
| Alexander Hamilton | Readings |
| Jefferson vs. Hamilton | Readings |
| Presidential Leadership in Times of Crisis | Readings |
| Presidential War, Emergency, and Foreign Policy Powers | Readings |
| Washington’s Farewell Address | Readings |
The Election of 1800 and Later
| Topics | Links |
| DiD: Thomas Jefferson’s First Inaugural Address | Readings |
| What Can We Learn from the Election of 1800? | Readings |
| Moments of Crisis: Election of 1800 | Readings |
| Marbury v. Madison | Readings |
| James Madison: Statesman for Union and Constitutional Government | Readings |
| Monroe Doctrine | Readings |
| McCulloch v. Maryland | Readings |
| DiD: Jefferson’s Letters to John Holmes and Henry Lee | Readings |
| DiD: Thomas Jefferson’s Letter to Roger Weightman | Readings |
Expansion and Sectionalism
Federal Power and Nullification
| Topics | Links |
| DiD: Veto Message on the Veto of the Bill on the Bank of the United States | Readings |
| Henry Clay | Readings |
| The American Presidency: The Executive Power Defined | Readings |
| DiD: Webster-Hayne Debates | Readings |
| DiD: Fort Hill Address | Readings |
| Moments of Crisis: Nullification Crisis | Readings |
| Andrew Jackson: Democracy and a Country Expanded | Readings |
Social Reform and Abolition
| Topics | Links |
| The Grimke Sisters | Readings |
| Reform and the Pulpit – Abolition and the American Church | Readings |
| Harriet Beecher Stowe | Readings |
| DiD: Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Address Delivered at Seneca Falls | Readings |
| Frederick Douglass vs. William Lloyd Garrison | Readings |
| DiD: What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? | Readings |
| Susan B. Anthony | Readings |
| Frederick Douglass | Readings |
Sectional Conflict
| Topics | Links |
| DiD: Lincoln’s Speech on the Dred Scott Decision | |
| Did Slavery Cause the Civil War? | Readings |
| DiD: Lincoln’s Speech on the Repeal of the Missouri Compromise. | Readings |
| Henry Clay | Readings |
| Harriet Beecher Stowe | Readings |
| Frederick Douglass | Readings |
| Lincoln vs. Douglas | Readings |
| Dred Scott v. Sandford | Readings |
Expansion
| Topics | Links |
| DiD: Henry Clay’s Market Speech | |
| DiD: John C. Calhoun’s Speech on the Oregon Bill | Readings |
| Lincoln vs. Douglas | |
| James K. Polk: 鈥淵oung Hickory鈥� and Manifest Destiny | Readings |
Civil War and Reconstruction
| Topics | Links |
| The 14th Amendment: A New Founding? | |
| DiD: Lincoln’s Fragment on the Constitution and Union | |
| Presidential Leadership in Times of Crisis | Readings |
| The American Presidency: The Executive Power Defined | Readings |
| Presidential War, Emergency, and Foreign Policy Powers | Readings |
| Politics, Precedent, and Process: The Presidency and the Supreme Court | Readings |
| DiD: “Cornerstone” Speech | Readings |
| DiD: Final Emancipation Proclamation | Readings |
| DiD: Resolution Submitting the 13th Amendment to the States | Readings |
| Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln | Readings |
| Did Slavery Cause the Civil War? | Readings |
| DiD: Fragment on the Constitution and Union | Readings |
| What Can We Learn from the Election of 1860? | Readings |
| Heroes of American Medicine: Clara Barton & Jonas Salk | Readings |
| American War Heroes: Ulysses S. Grant & Robert Gould Shaw | Readings |
| Fire in a Crowded Theater – Civil Liberties in Times of Emergency | Readings |
| Frederick Douglass | Readings |
| Secessionists vs. Unionists | Readings |
| DiD: Gettysburg Address | Readings |
| Moments of Crisis: Lincoln’s Assassination | Readings |
| DiD: Lincoln’s Second Inaugural | Readings |
Industrialization and Urbanization
| Topics | Links |
| DiD: Plunkitt of Tammany Hall | |
| Plessy v. Ferguson | Readings |
| Ida B. Wells | Readings |
| Susan B. Anthony | Readings |
| Heroes of American Medicine: Clara Barton & Jonas Salk | Readings |
| Frederick Douglass | Readings |
| William Jennings Bryan | Readings |
Progressivism and World War I
Progressivism and the Spanish-American War
| Topics | Links |
| DiD: The Progressive Party Platform | |
| DiD: Carl Schurz’s “Against American Imperialism” | |
| Ida B. Wells | Readings |
| Susan B. Anthony | Readings |
| How did the Progressives differ from the Founders? | Readings |
| DiD: 1912 Party Platform | Readings |
| Powers in Concert and Conflict: Congress and the President | Readings |
| Jane Addams | Readings |
| DiD: Roosevelt’s Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine | Readings |
| Imperialists vs. Non-Interventionists | Readings |
| DiD: Theodore Roosevelt’s New Nationalism speech | Readings |
| Moments of Crisis: Sinking of the USS Maine | Readings |
| Theodore Roosevelt: At the Dawn of a New Era | Readings |
WWI and the 1920s
| Topics | Links |
| The Flu Epidemic of 1918 – Lessons from History | Readings |
| Heroes of American Business: Henry Ford and Madam C.J. Walker | Readings |
| The American Family in Times of Crisis: Education, Health Care, and the Trade-offs of Coming Home | Readings |
| William Jennings Bryan | Readings |
| Fire in a Crowded Theater – Civil Liberties in Times of Emergency | Readings |
| DiD: Wilson’s Fourteen Points | Readings |
| DiD: Speech on the 150th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence | Readings |
| Imperialists vs. Non-Interventionists | Readings |
The Great Depression and the New Deal
| Topics | Links |
| What were the Causes of the Great Depression? | |
| DiD: Herbert Hoover’s Speech on the New Deal | Readings |
| Powers in Concert and Conflict: Congress and the President | Readings |
| Politics, Precedent, and Process: The Presidency and the Supreme Court | Readings |
| The Modern Presidency | Readings |
| Did the New Deal end the Great Depression? | Readings |
| Bad Medicine? The Effects of Economic Emergencies on Liberty, Democracy, and Prosperity | Readings |
| FDR vs. Hoover | Readings |
| DiD: FDR’s Commonwealth Club Address | Readings |
| Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Through Depression and War | Readings |
World War II
| Topics | Links |
| Fire in a Crowded Theater – Civil Liberties in Times of Emergency | Readings |
| Politics, Precedent, and Process: The Presidency and the Supreme Court | Readings |
| D-Day and the Liberation of Europe | Readings |
| The Power of the Pulpit in Times of Crisis: From the American Revolution to the Coronavirus | Readings |
| Presidential Leadership in Times of Crisis | Readings |
| Douglas MacArthur | Readings |
| Ralph Ellison | Readings |
| DiD: FDR’s 1944 State of the Union Speech | Readings |
| Moments of Crisis: Attack on Pear Harbor | Readings |
| Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Through Depression and War | Readings |
Cold War America
| Topics | Links |
| Presidential Leadership in Times of Crisis | Readings |
| Powers in Concert and Conflict: Congress and the President | |
| Presidential War, Emergency, and Foreign Policy Powers | Readings |
| Politics, Precedent, and Process: The Presidency and the Supreme Court | Readings |
| The Modern Presidency | Readings |
| Heroes of American Medicine: Clara Barton & Jonas Salk | Readings |
| The Power of the Pulpit in Times of Crisis: From the American Revolution to the Coronavirus | Readings |
| Bad Medicine? The Effects of Economic Emergencies on Liberty, Democracy, and Prosperity | Readings |
| Douglas MacArthur | Readings |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower | Readings |
| LBJ’s Great Society | Readings |
| The Great Society vs. Modern Conservatism | |
| DiD: The Long Telegram | Readings |
| DiD: A Time for Choosing | Readings |
| Moments of Crisis: Cuban Missile Crisis | Readings |
| Moments of Crisis: Watergate | Readings |
| Moments of Crisis: Iran Hostage Crisis | Readings |
| Lyndon Baines Johnson | Readings |
| Richard Nixon: Challenges Abroad; Controversy and Scandal at Home | Readings |
| Ronald Reagan | Readings |
The Struggle for Civil and Legal Rights
| Topics | Links |
| Fire in a Crowded Theater – Civil Liberties in Times of Emergency | Readings |
| Ralph Ellison | Readings |
| Fanny Lou Hamer | Readings |
| Reform and the Pulpit – The Role of the Church in the Post-WW2 Civil Rights Movement | Readings |
| Martin Luther King, Jr. vs. Malcolm X | Readings |
| Moments of Crisis: Bloody Sunday in Selma | Readings |
| DiD: MLK’s Letter from Birmingham City Jail | Readings |
| Brown v. Board of Education | Readings |
| Gideon v. Wainwright | Readings |
| Miranda v. Arizona | Readings |
| Tinker v. Des Moines | Readings |
| Roe v. Wade | Readings |
| Regents of CA v. Bakke | Readings |
| New Jersey v. T.L.O. | Readings |
| DiD: MLK’s “I Have a Dream” Speech | Readings |
Contemporary America
| Topics | Links |
| Federalism | |
| A “Living” Constitution? | |
| An Idealistic or Realistic Foreign Policy | |
| Has Modern Government Destroyed the Separation of Powers? | |
| Presidential Leadership in Times of Crisis | Readings |
| Presidential War, Emergency, and Foreign Policy Powers | Readings |
| Sandra Day O’Connor | Readings |
| What Can We Learn From the Election of 1980? | Readings |
| Heroes of American Medicine | Readings |
| The Power of the Pulpit in Times of Crisis: From the American Revolution to the Coronavirus | Readings |
| The Great Society vs. Modern Conservatism | Readings |