Legislative Branch

eBooks

The Center for Legislative Archives has a selection of eBooks available for use in and outside of the classroom:

A Visual History, 1940-1963: Political Cartoons by Clifford Berryman and Jim Berryman
America and the World: Foreign Affairs in Political Cartoons, 1898–1940
Congress Creates the Bill of Rights
Representing Congress: Clifford K. Berryman's Political Cartoons
The Two-Party System: A Revolution in American Politics, 1824-1840
Using Primary Sources to Review Major Topics in U.S. History: 1860-1979


A Visual History, 1940-1963: Political Cartoons by Clifford Berryman and Jim Berryman 

A Visual History, 1940–1963: Political Cartoons by Clifford Berryman and Jim Berryman presents 70 political cartoons that invite students to explore American history from the early years of World War II to the civil rights movement. These images, by father-and-son cartoonists Clifford Berryman and Jim Berryman, highlight many significant topics, including WWII and its impact, the Cold War, the space race, the nuclear arms race, and the struggle for school desegregation. This eBook presents the artists’ perspectives on the events, people, and institutions that shaped this tumultuous era of American history. 

Chapters include:
  World War II: America Joins a Global Conflict, 1940-1945
  World War II: Life in the U.S., 1941-1944
  Postwar Issues: New Challenges at Home and Abroad, 1945-1948
  The Cold War: An Era of Rising Tensions, 1948-1955
  The Cold War: An Era of Standoffs, 1956-1963
  Civil Rights: Confrontations over Equality, 1956-1963
  Science and Technology Transform America, 1949-1963

Download A Visual History, 1940-1963: Political Cartoons by Clifford Berryman and Jim Berryman


America and the World: Foreign Affairs in Political Cartoons, 1898–1940

America and the World presents 63 political cartoons by Clifford K. Berryman that invite students to discuss American foreign policy from the Spanish American War to the start of World War II. Berryman was a remarkably creative artist who published a cartoon almost every day for more than 50 years. From 1896 to 1949, his cartoons were featured on the front pages of leading Washington, DC, daily newspapers — first the Washington Post and then The Evening Star. This eBook presents a selection of cartoons that show Berryman’s insight into the people, institutions, issues, and events that shaped an important era of American history.

Chapters include:
  War with Spain and the Age of Imperialism 1898-1899
  The Era of the Big Stick and Dollar Diplomacy 1900 – 1913
  World War I Begins in Europe 1914 – 1916
  America Enters World War I in 1917
  America at War in Europe 1918
  The Post-War Quest for Peace 1919 –1938
  Storm Clouds Gathering: World War II on the Horizon 1939–1940

Download America and the World: Foreign Affairs in Political Cartoons, 1898-1940

Use the eBook in your classroom with our review activity, Studying U.S. Foreign Policy through Political Cartoons.


Congress Creates the Bill of Rights

The eBook focuses on James Madison's leadership role in creating the Bill of Rights, effectively completing the U.S. Constitution. Starting with the crises facing the nation in the 1780s, the narrative traces the call for constitutional amendments from the state ratification conventions. Through close examination of the featured document, Senate Revisions to the House Proposed  Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the reader goes inside the First Congress, as Madison and the leaders of rival political factions worked in the House and Senate to formulate amendments to change the recently ratified Constitution. It was created as part of the Congress Creates the Bill of Rights project.

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Representing Congress: Clifford K. Berryman's Political Cartoons

Representing Congress is an eBook which presents a selection of political cartoons and learning resources to engage students in a discussion of what Congress is, how it works, and what it does.

Clifford and Jim Berryman were among Washington's best-known and most-admired graphic political commentators from 1898 to 1965. Clifford K. Berryman drew for the Washington Post from 1890 until 1907, and then for the Evening Star from 1907 until his death in 1949. His son, Jim, joined the Evening Star in 1935 and drew for the paper until his retirement in 1965, winning a Pulitzer Prize in 1950. Berryman cartoons touched on a variety of subjects including politics, Presidential and congressional elections, both World Wars, and even Washington weather.

Chapters include:
  Congress and the Constitution: Articles I and II Illustrated
  Congress: the Elected, Representative Branch of Government
  Congress: Making Laws for the Nation
  Congress and the President: Balancing Articles I and II
  The Two-Party System in Congress
  A Member's Job: Representing the People and the States

Download Representing Congress: Clifford K. Berryman's Political Cartoons

Download Representando al Congreso: Caricatura Politicas de Clifford K. Berryman

Use the eBook in your classroom with our lesson, Congress Represented in Political Cartoons.

Use the eBook in your classroom with our review activity, Big Civics Ideas through Political Cartoons.


The Two-Party System: A Revolution in American Politics, 1824-1840

This book focuses on the rise of the two-party system in America between 1824 and 1840, one of the most important, yet least understood, political changes in our history. It highlights the key social, economic, and demographic factors that contributed to the end of the first party system (1789-1824) and focuses on the central political actors and events that contributed to the emergence of a wholly new kind of politics and a new style of campaigning in America.

This book is organized in three core sections. Section 1 presents a narrative account of this political party story focusing on the main events and the leading participants. Section 2 presents a gallery of documents and quotes illustrating the actions and reactions that influenced this historic change. Section 3 gives the reader the opportunity to consider if they would have supported the newly formed Democratic or Whig Party in the 1820s and 1830s.

Download The Two-Party System: A Revolution in American Politics, 1824-1840

 

 

 


Using Primary Sources to Review Major Topics in U.S. History: 1860-1979

This eBook presents six review lessons designed to engage students in hands-on learning and discussion. In each lesson, the students work at stations where they collaboratively match and analyze primary sources, captions, and brief descriptions representing the major issues and topics of an era. They draw from their collaborative work to complete graphic organizers through which they explain how the evidence relates to the issues. The students then, individually, answer overarching reflection questions. Each of the six lessons prepares students to participate in whole-class discussions, to formulate enduring understandings about important topics in U.S. history, and to improve their achievement on assessments.

Chapters include:
  Reviewing the Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1860 -1877
  Reviewing Major Issues of the Gilded Age and Early Twentieth Century, 1870 - 1912
  Studying U.S. Foreign Policy through Political Cartoons, 1898 - 1940
  Studying Four Major Issues of the Post-World War I and 1920s Era with Primary Sources
  Reviewing Major Topics in U.S. History from 1940 - 1963 with Political Cartoons
  From the Cold War to Camp David: Reviewing U.S. Foreign Policy in Post-World War II Era, 1948 - 1979

Download Using Primary Sources to Review Major Topics in U.S. History: 1860 - 1979


Find more books and exhibit guides available from the National Archives for your PC, Mac, and mobile devices. 

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