Abraham Lincoln's interest in canal building, river commerce, and internal improvements not only drew him to the Whig and later Republican Party, but also led him to try his hand at designing a device for raising boats off sand bars. Undertaken while he was a 40-year-old lawyer in Illinois, Linco

In this online exhibition, students will learn how racism, social attitudes and policies such as Jim Crow laws and poll taxes led to the Plessy v. Ferguson case which legalized segregation. Segregated America is the first section of the online exhibition entitled

In this classroom activity, students will identify and discuss the condition and aspirations of free African Americans in the years following the Civil War, identify the social factors that led to the rise of Jim Crow segregation and evaluate the effects of segregation. This lesson is part of the

Students will learn how laws and customs led to separate and unequal education for people of color in the United States and the efforts made by citizens to guarantee equal education in the century before the Brown v. Board of Education decision. The Battleground: Separate and Unequal Educatio

Construction of the National Japanese American Memorial on Federal land was authorized by statute (PL 102-502) and signed into law by President George Bush on October 24, 1992. Initially intended to commemorate Japanese American War veterans, the purpose has been extended to honor the patriotism