This collection traces the progress of American History and extensively covers the major themes of the period from colonization and settlement through the revolution, expansion, politics, slavery, the Civil War and reconstruction, to World War II. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History holds one of the outstanding collections on American History. It is full of individual items, but it also has rich veins of manuscript research material. This makes it ideal for teaching survey courses on American History, but equally valuable as a platform for undergraduate essay work and postgraduate research.