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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
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from Rand McNally
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Abraham Lincoln
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1945 Newbery Honor Book
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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
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Adventures of Lewis and Clark
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America's Robert E. Lee
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American Fairy Tales
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Big Book of Cowboys
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Buffalo Bill
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1959 Edition from Wheeler Publishing, Inc.
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By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
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Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
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Little House Series #5
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Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
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Caddie Woodlawn
by Carol Ryrie Brink, illustrated by Kate Seredy
from Macmillan
Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
1936 Newbery Medal winner
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Caddie Woodlawn
by Carol Ryrie Brink
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Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
1936 Newbery Medal winner
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Caleb's Choice
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California Gold Days
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1961 Printing from California State Department of Education
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Children of the Civil War
Picture the American Past
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Picture the American Past
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from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
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Conrad Elroy, Powder Monkey
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Cowboy Sam and the Indians
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Cowboys
Usborne Beginners Level 1
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Davy Crockett
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Drawing America: Sacajawea
Drawing America
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Biography for 1st-3rd grade
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Enemies of Slavery
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Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
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Little House Series #3
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Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
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First Book Edition of the Star-Spangled Banner
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First Book of Pioneers
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from Franklin Watts
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First Four Years
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Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
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First Four Years (Pictorial Cover)
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
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Flaming Arrows
by William O. Steele, Illustrated by Paul Galdone
1st edition from Harcourt
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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by Jeanette Winter
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Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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Food and Recipes of Westward Expansion
Cooking Throughout American History
by George Erdosh
1st edition from PowerKids Press
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
For Ma and Pa
by Wilma Pitchford Hays, illustrated by Peter Burchard
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George Rogers Clark: War in the West
Events of the Revolution
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Going to Town
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Going West
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Historical fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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Gold Rush
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Grandfather's Dance
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from HarperCollins
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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
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Hear My Sorrow
by Deborah Hopkinson
from Scholastic Inc.
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Here Rolled the Covered Wagons
by Albert Salisbury
from Superior Publishing Company
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Home Crafts (Historic Communities)
by Bobbie Kalman
from Crabtree Publishing
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in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$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
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$17.99
I am Sacagawea
Ordinary People Change the World
by Brad Meltzer, illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for 1st-3rd grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
If You Lived at the Time of the Civil War
by Kay Moore
from Perfection Learning
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$16.60
Indian Summer
by F. N. Monjo
from HarperTrophy
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Indians and Cowboys
by Sanford Tousey
1951 Edition from Rand McNally
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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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Jed Smith, Young Western Explorer
by Olive W. Burt
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John Brown: One Man Against Slavery
by Gwen Everett, Illustrated by Jacob Lawrence
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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)
Kate Douglas Wiggin
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Dharathula H. Millender
from Bobbs-Merril Co
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Kidnapped Circus
by Richard Wormser, Drawings by Don Bolognese
from Weekly Reader
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Kirsten and the New Girl
American Girls Short Stories
by Janet Shaw
First Edition, First Printing from American Girl
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Kit Carson
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from Julian Messner
Biography for 1st-3rd grade
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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
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$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 and Clark and Me
by Laurie Myers
from Henry Holt and Company
Fictionalized Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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$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)
$139.11
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 (Pictorial Cover)
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from Harper & Row
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (5 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)
$17.99
Little House on the Prairie (pictorial hardcover)
Little House Series #2
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
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)
Little Women Treasury
by Carolyn Strom Collins, Christina Wyss Eriksson
from Penguin Putnam
for 3rd-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Long Winter
Little House Series #6
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1941 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$19.99 $9.50 (1 in stock)
Long Winter (Pictorial Cover)
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from Harper & Row
for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Lotta Crabtree
by Lois V. Harris
from Pelican Publishing Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Make Way for Sam Houston
by Jean Fritz; illustrated by Elise Primavera
First Edition from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
More Perfect Than the Moon
by Patricia MacLachlan
Fir from Scholastic Reference
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Moses
by Carole Boston Weatherford
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
2007 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99
Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West (pictorial hardcover)
by Marguerite Henry; illustrated by Robert Lougheed
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
My Face to the Wind
Dear America
by Jim Murphy
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
O Captain, My Captain
by Robert Burleigh; illustrated by Sterling Hundley
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 3rd-8th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$19.99
Old Town in the Green Groves
by Cynthia Rylant
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
On the Banks of Plum Creek
Little House Series #4
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1938 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$18.99
On to Oregon!
by Honore Morrow
1946 Edition from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-7th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Paul Bunyan and His Great Blue Ox
by Wallace Wadsworth, illustrated by Will Crawford
from George H. Doran Company
for 3rd-6th grade
Paul Bunyan and His Great Blue Ox
by Wallace Wadsworth, illustrated by Enrico Arno
from Doubleday & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
Perilous Journey of the Donner Party
from Clarion Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Picture Book of Davy Crockett
by David Adler
from Holiday House
Picture Book Biography for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
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