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19th Century America

The 19th was the United States' first full century as a nation. It was full of birth pangs, moments of triumph, and things that made everyone shake their head and wonder what was going on. One of the most interesting of the latter bits was when British ex-pat Joshua Norton crowned himself Emperor of the United States, "reigning" from San Francisco.

Most people remember the 19th century for the Civil War. While it certainly was a significant event, one of the most important events in American history even, there were a number of surrounding factors that were just as important, and without which the War Between the States would never have developed.

Arguably the most significant of these was Western Expansion. The idea that Americans were fulfilling some kind of national destiny by claiming the Western part of the continent was called Manifest Destiny, and its origins can be found in the writings of some of the most prominent Founding Fathers, like Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Their dedication to the Enlightenment ideal of human progress (that mankind controlled its own destiny, and that that destiny was to move ever forward) translated into a need to expand their country as far as possible.

As with anything else, God used that humanist doctrine to advance His own truth. While politicians and opportunists went West to obtain land, gold, and freedom, Christian missionaries went to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. People like Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and Jason Lee braved the Oregon Trail simply to share their faith with the Native Americans in the Western Territories; the Whitmans even gave their lives, becoming the Pacific Northwest's most famous martyrs.

Meanwhile, back in the East the bigwigs were conspiring to breach the 3,000 mile gap between the East and West coasts with a recently improved invention: the steam engine train. The First Transcontinental Railroad wasn't completed till 1869 (four years after the Civil War had ended), but it's origins reach back to the 1840s when it was first envisioned by Asa Whitney.

In fact, the transcontinental railroad was a significant element of Abraham Lincoln's presidential campaign and administration. This was the problem: the North wanted the Trans to go through their territory because they had so much industrial product to move, while the South wanted it to run through the bottom half of the States so they could transport cotton, sorghum, and other agricultural goods.

The reality was a bit of a compromise, but the violent debates that stirred Congress had no small part in fomenting the division that would ultimately erupt in full-blown war. Slavery was the main issue, but it affected so many other factors that to reduce the origins of the Civil War to slavery alone is a bit revisionist and narrow-sighted.

For a lot of the 19th century, it seemed that the United States led a charmed existence, that Progress was a sure thing and there was nothing really to fear, certainly no problem that couldn't be overcome. The last two decades were exceedingly prosperous, leading to a sense of smug optimism that only the terror of World War I, the moral chaos of the Jazz Age, and the sudden insecurity of the Great Depression could effectively end.

Not everyone was man-centered and materialistic, however. The 19th century saw a surge in evangelism unlike anything the fledgling nation had seen, so pervasive and productive that it was called the Second Great Awakening. Unfortunately, a lot of doctrinal dilution came with the new preaching, but there were plenty of genuine conversions, and much good came of them.

It's difficult to reduce a one hundred year span to a few paragraphs, and there are certainly things we could have mentioned. Comprehensive treatments aren't always the best way to study history, though; each era has its own spirit and attitudes (its own zeitgeist, if you want to get all technical and German) that best represent it. We hope you'll bear that in mind in your study of the 19th century in America, and indeed throughout your study of history here and around the globe.

Topics of Interest from the 19th Century:

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur.Read more of his reviews here.
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1812: The War and the World
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Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
by Frances Cavanah
from Rand McNally
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Abraham Lincoln
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Historical Non-fiction for 3rd-6th grade
1945 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Across the Wide & Lonesome Prairie
Dear America
by Kristiana Gregory
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
Adventure to Home
by Robert Wells, illustrated by Mary Stevens
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
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in 19th Century America (Location: HISA-19C)
Adventures of Lewis and Clark
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in Step Up Books (Location: VIN-STEP)
Adventures of Lewis and Clark
North Star Books #29
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America's Robert E. Lee
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American Fairy Tales
1st edition from Hyperion Books for Children
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Aquila's Drinking Gourd
by Pamela Dell
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Big Book of Cowboys
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from Grosset & Dunlap
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Biggest (and best) Flag That Ever Flew
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Blockade Runners and Ironclads
by Wallace B. Black
from Franklin Watts
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Book of Cowboys
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from Platt and Munk Publishers
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$28.00 (1 in stock)
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Childhood of Famous Americans
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By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House Series #5
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from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$19.99
By the Shores of Silver Lake (Pictorial Cover)
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Cabin Boy to Advent Crusader
by Virgil Robinson, illustrated by Harry Baerg
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Caddie Woodlawn
by Carol Ryrie Brink, illustrated by Kate Seredy
Book Club Edition from Macmillan
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1936 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
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from Simon and Schuster
Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
1936 Newbery Medal winner
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$19.99
Caleb's Choice
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California Gold Days
by Helen Bauer
1961 Printing from California State Department of Education
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Children of the Emancipation -1860s to 1890s
Picture the American Past
by Wilma King
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
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Clara Barton
Discovery Book
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Clara Barton: Amazing Civil War Nurse
Amazing Americans
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Clara Barton: Girl Nurse
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Conrad Elroy, Powder Monkey
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Copper-Toed Boots
by Marguerite de Angeli
from Purple House Press
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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$26.99
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
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from Benefic Press
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Cowboys
Usborne Beginners Level 1
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Davy Crockett
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from Sterling Publishing Co.
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Davy Crockett: Young Rifleman
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Aileen Wells Parks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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DK Eyewitness: Civil War
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DK Eyewitness: Civil War
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$9.99
Drawing America: Sacajawea
Drawing America
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from Scholastic Inc.
Biography for 1st-3rd grade
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Enemies of Slavery
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
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$19.99
Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder, illustrated by Helen Sewell
from Harper & Brothers
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
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Little House Series #3
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First Book Edition of the Star-Spangled Banner
by Francis Scott Key, Richard B. Morris, illustrated by Henry S. Gillette
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
First Book of Cowboys
by Benjamin Webster
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First Book of Pioneers
by Walter Havinghurst
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First Book of the Oregon Trail
by Walter Havighurst
from Franklin Watts
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First Four Years
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from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
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First Four Years (Pictorial Cover)
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
from Harper & Row
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Flaming Arrows
by William O. Steele, Illustrated by Paul Galdone
1st edition from Harcourt
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Follow the Drinking Gourd
by Jeanette Winter
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Food and Recipes of Westward Expansion
Cooking Throughout American History
by George Erdosh
1st edition from PowerKids Press
for 1st-4th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
For Ma and Pa
by Wilma Pitchford Hays, illustrated by Peter Burchard
from Coward McCann
for 2nd-4th grade
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From Slave Ship to Freedom Road
by Julius Lester
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for 2nd-4th grade
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
George Rogers Clark: War in the West
Events of the Revolution
by Susan and John Lee, illustrated by Richard Wahl
from Children's Press
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Going West
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from Dial Books for Young Readers
Historical fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Gold Rush
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from Grosset & Dunlap
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Grandfather's Dance
by Patricia MacLachlan
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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Great Railroad Race
Dear America
by Kristiana Gregory
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
Great Trains of All Time
by Freeman Hubbard; illustrated by Herb Mott
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-Adult
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Hear My Sorrow
by Deborah Hopkinson
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
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Here Rolled the Covered Wagons
by Albert Salisbury
from Superior Publishing Company
for 3rd-6th grade
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Home Crafts (Historic Communities)
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from Crabtree Publishing
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$5.50 (1 in stock)
How and Why Wonder Book of Winning of the West
by Felix Sutton, illustrated by Leonard Vosburgh
from Charles E. Merrill Company
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How Sweet the Sound
by Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Frank Morrison
from Atheneum
for 1st-4th grade
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$17.99
I am Sacagawea
Ordinary People Change the World
by Brad Meltzer, illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos
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for 1st-3rd grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Indian Summer
by F. N. Monjo
from HarperTrophy
for 2nd-5th grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
Indians and Cowboys
by Sanford Tousey
1951 Edition from Rand McNally
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
James J. Hill: Young Empire Builder
by Mildred Comfort
from Bobbs-Merril Co
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Jane Addams
A Discovery Book
by Helen Stone Peterson
from Garrard Publishing Company
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Jeb Stuart
Historical American Biographies
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from Enslow
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Jed Smith, Young Western Explorer
by Olive W. Burt
from Bobbs-Merril Co
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Jim Bowie: Boy with a Hunting Knife
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Gertrude Hecker Winders
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-6th grade
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John Brown: One Man Against Slavery
by Gwen Everett, Illustrated by Jacob Lawrence
from Rizzoli International Publications
for 1st-3rd grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
John Jacob Aster: Boy Trader
by Dorothy S. Anderson, illustrated by Gray Morrow
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Journal of James Edmond Pease
My Name is America
by Jim Murphy
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th Grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Journal of Sean Sullivan
by William Durbin
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Kate Douglas Wiggin
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Dharathula H. Millender
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
Kidnapped Circus
by Richard Wormser, Drawings by Don Bolognese
from Weekly Reader
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Kirsten and the New Girl
American Girls Short Stories
by Janet Shaw
First Edition, First Printing from American Girl
for 2nd-5th grade
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Kit Carson
by Shannon Garst
from Julian Messner
Biography for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Kit Carson
A Discovery Book
by Nardi Reeder Campion, illustrated by Shannon Stirnweis
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Land of the Buffalo Bones
Dear America
by Marion Dane Bauer
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
Last Princess
by Fay Stanley; illustrated by Diane Stanley
from HarperCollins
Picture Book Biographies for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Legends of the Wild West
by James A. Crutchfield, Bill O'Neal, Dale L. Walker
from Publications International
for 3rd-8th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Let's Go to the Battle of Gettysburg
by Judith Spiegelman, Illustrated by Charles Dougherty
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 1st-5th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Lewis & Clark
by Steven Kroll
No Date No Edition Stated from Holiday House
Historical Non-Fiction for 1st-4th grade
in Lewis & Clark Expedition (1801-1803) (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$5.50 (1 in stock)
Lewis and Clark and Me
by Laurie Myers
from Henry Holt and Company
Fictionalized Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Lewis & Clark Expedition (1801-1803) (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lewis and Clark: Explorers to the West
by Madge Haines, Leslie Morrill, illustrated by William Hutchinson
from Abingdon Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Liberty Letters: The Personal Correspondence of Hannah Brown and Sarah Smith
by Nancy LeSourd
1st edition from Zonderkidz
for 3rd-6th grade
in Series Books (Location: SER-MISC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Light in the Storm
Dear America
by Karen Hesse
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th Grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
Little House - Hardcover Set
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$143.11
Little House in the Big Woods
Little House Series #1
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$18.99
Little House in the Big Woods
by Laura Ingalls Wilder, illustrated by Garth Williams
Book Club Edition from Harper & Row
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Little House in the Big Woods
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Uniform Edition from Harper & Brothers
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Little House in the Big Woods (Pictorial Cover)
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from Harper & Row
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (4 in stock)
Little House on the Prairie
Little House Series #2
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$19.99
Little Town on the Prairie
Little House Series #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$19.99
Little Town on the Prairie (Pictorial Cover)
Little House Series #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
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