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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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1861: The Civil War Awakening
by Adam Goodheart
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Abe Lincoln Grows Up
by Carl Sandburg
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Heroes of History
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Abraham Lincoln
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Abraham Lincoln's World
by Genevieve Foster, expanded by Joanna Foster
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Historical Non-fiction for 7th-10th grade
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Abraham Lincoln: The Man & His Faith
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Amazing Impossible Erie Canal
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America in the Time of Abraham Lincoln
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American Civil War
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American Civil War
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American Waterways: Canal Days
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Amistad Slave Revolt and American Abolition
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Angel Knew Papa and the Dog
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Antebellum America: 1784-1850
American History by Era Volume 4
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Apples to Oregon
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Battle Cry of Freedom
Oxford History of the United States
by James M. McPherson
from Oxford University
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$23.79
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1st edition from Falcon Press Publishing
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Beginning of the Republic
A Basic History of the United States Volume 2
by Clarence B. Carson
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American History Reference for 9th-Adult
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$17.00
Behind the Blue and Gray
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Behind the Blue and Gray
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Big Annie of Calumet
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Black & Tan
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Black Odyssey
by Mary Cable
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Bold Journey
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Bold Journey
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Boston Jane
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Bound for Oregon
by Jean Van Leeuwen
1st edition from Dial Press
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Boy in the Alamo
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$19.00
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Buffalo Bill and the Wild West
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Bull Run
by Paul Fleischman, David Frampton (Woodcuts)
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Butter in the Well: Historical Diary 1868-1888
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By the Dawn's Early Light
by Steven Kroll
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By the Dawn's Early Light
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By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House Series #5
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1940 Newbery Honor Book
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Captain's Dog
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Captain, My Captain
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Captive Treasure
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Carolina's Courage
by Elizabeth Yates
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Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham
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1956 Newbery Medal winner
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Chains
Seeds of America #1
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Children of the Covered Wagon
by Mary Jane Carr
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Children of the Wild West
by Russell Freedman
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Children's Stories
Tales of the Wild West Volume 6
by Rick Steber
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Civil War
by Janet Cassidy
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Civil War
by Pat Wesolowski
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Civil War
Step Into History
by Steven Otfinoski
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Civil War Artist
by Taylor Morrison
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Civil War Days
American Kids in History
by David C. King
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Civil War for Kids
by Janis Herbert
from Chicago Review Press
Activity Guide for 4th-7th grade
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Civil War Heroines
by Jill Canon
from Bellerophon Books
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Civil War Songbook
from Dover Publications
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Civil War Sub
by Kate Boehm Jerome
from Grosset & Dunlap
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Civil War: 1850-1895
American History by Era Volume 5
by Auriana Ojeda, book editor
from Greenhaven Press
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$11.20 (1 in stock)
Civil War: A History
by Harry Hansen, Introduction by Richard S. Wheeler, Foreword by Gary Gallagher
from New American Library
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Civil War: A Narrative - 3 Volume Set
by Shelby Foote
1st Vintage Books Ed from Vintage Classics
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$74.80
Clara Barton
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
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Co. Aytch
by Sam Watkins
from Touchstone
Historical Non-fiction for 8th-Adult
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Coolies
by Yin, illustrated by Chris Soentpiet
from Puffin Books
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$8.99
Copper-Toed Boots
by Marguerite de Angeli
from Wayne State University
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Copper-Toed Boots
by Marguerite de Angeli
from Purple House Press
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Courage to Run
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
from Moody Press
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Cowboys
Tales of the Wild West Volume 4
by Rick Steber
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$2.50 (1 in stock)
Cowboys of the Wild West
by Russell Freedman
from Sandpiper Books
Non-fiction for 4th-8th grade
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$6.50 (1 in stock)
Cowboys of the Wild West
by Russell Freedman
from Scholastic Inc.
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Crossing Bok Chitto
by Tim Tingle
from Cinco Puntos Pres
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$12.95
Curious World of Calpurnia Tate
by Jacqueline Kelly
Reprint from Square Fish Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
2010 Newbery Honor
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$9.99
Daily Life in a Covered Wagon
by Paul Erickson
from Puffin Books
Historical Reference for 3rd-5th Grade
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$9.99
Daniel Boone
by Daniel Boone
from Applewood Books
Biography for 4th-8th grade
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Davy Crockett
by David Crockett
from Applewood Books
Biography for 4th-8th grade
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Davy Crockett
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
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$11.99
Democracy in America
Penguin Classics
by Alexis De Tocqueville
from Penguin Classics
American Government for 11th-12th grade
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$16.00
Democracy in America
by Alexis De Tocqueville
from Harper Perennial
American Government for 11th-12th grade
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$22.99
Diary of an Early American Boy
by Eric Sloane
from Dover Publications
American History Reference for 4th-8th grade
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$14.95
Diary of an Early American Boy
by Eric Sloane
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Diary of an Early American Boy
by Eric Sloane
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
for 4th-8th grade
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Did You Invent The Phone All Alone, Alexander Graham Bell?
by Gilda Berger, Melvin Berger
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.99
DK Eyewitness: Civil War
by John Stanchack
from DK Publishing
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Down the Big River
Purple House Living History Library
by Stephen W. Meader, illustrated by Edward Shenton
from Purple House Press
for 3rd-6th grade
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$10.99
Draw 50 Boats, Ships, Trucks, and Trains
by Lee Ames
from Watson-Guptill Publications
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$9.99
Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men
by Jeffrey Rogers Hummel
1st edition from Open Court Publishing
for 9th-Adult
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$6.00 (2 in stock)
Era of Modernization Through the 1930s
by Kathy Sammis
from Walch Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Escape from Slavery
by Frederick Douglass, edited and illustrated by Michael McCurdy, foreword by Coretta Scott King
from Beautiful Feet Books
for 6th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$13.99
Escape North!
Step into Reading Level 4
by Monica Kulling
from Random House
for Grades 2-3
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$5.99 $3.00 (1 in stock)
Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
by Jacqueline Kelly
Reprint from Square Fish Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
2010 Newbery Honor
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$8.99
Eyewitnesses at the Battle of Franklin
by David R. Logsdon
4th edition
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
F is for Freedom
by Roni Schotter
from Scholastic Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$1.50 (1 in stock)
Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
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