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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
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-8th grade
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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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1945 Newbery Honor Book
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Across the Wide & Lonesome Prairie
Dear America
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Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
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Addy Learns a Lesson
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Adventure to Home
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Adventures of Lewis and Clark
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Alamo All Stars
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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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Appomattox
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from HarperCollins
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Big Annie of Calumet
by Jerry Stanley
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Big Book of Cowboys
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Blizzard!
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from Scholastic Press
for 4th-6th grade
2001 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
in 19th Century America (Location: HISA-19C)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Booker T. Washington
A Discovery Book
by Lillie G. Patterson
from Garrard Publishing Company
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BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom
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2021 Newbery Honor Book
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$17.99
Boys' Book of the West
by Amy Hogeboom
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Brady
by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Coward McCann
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by Frank L. Beals, illustrated by Jack Merryweather
1959 Edition from Wheeler Publishing, Inc.
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from HarperCollins
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1940 Newbery Honor Book
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By the Shores of Silver Lake (Pictorial Cover)
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
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Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
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by Virgil Robinson, illustrated by Harry Baerg
from Southern Publishing Association
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by Carol Ryrie Brink
from Simon and Schuster
Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
1936 Newbery Medal winner
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California Gold Days
by Helen Bauer
1961 Printing from California State Department of Education
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Caravan to Oregon
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from Binford & Mort Publishing
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Cartier Sails the St. Lawrence
by Esther Averill, illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky
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Children of the Civil War
Picture the American Past
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from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
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Picture the American Past
by Wilma King
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
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Children of the Wild West
by Russell Freedman
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Cowboy Sam and the Indians
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Cowboys and Cattle Drives
Frontiers of America
by Edith S. McCall
from Children's Press
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Cowboys and Cattle Ranching
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Daniel Boone, Wilderness Scout
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by Stewart Edward White, illustrated by Henry C. Pitz
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 4th-7th grade
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Daniel Boone, Wilderness Scout
by Stewart Edward White, illustrated by James Daugherty
from Garden City Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
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Davy Crockett
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1935 Newbery Honor Book
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Davy Crockett
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DK Eyewitness Series
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from DK Publishing
American History Reference for 4th-8th grade
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DK Eyewitness: North American Indian
DK Eyewitness Series
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from DK Publishing
HIstory Reference for 4th-8th grade
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Dreams in the Golden Country
Dear America
by Kathryn Lasky
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
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$6.00 (2 in stock)
Eli Whitney: Great Inventor
by Jean Lee Latham
from Garrard Publishing Company
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Emancipation Proclomation
by Tonya Bolden
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
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Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
by Jacqueline Kelly
from Henry Holt and Company
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Facing West
by Kathleen V. Kudlinski
for 4th-7th grade
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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)
$19.99
Farmer Boy (Pictorial Cover)
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
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Fear in the Forest
by Cateau de Leeuw
from T. Nelson & Sons
for 4th-8th grade
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Fields of Fury
by James M. McPherson
from Atheneum
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First Book of Pioneers
by Walter Havinghurst
from Franklin Watts
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First Four Years
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
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in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
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First Four Years (Pictorial Cover)
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
from Harper & Row
for 3rd-8th grade
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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 (2 in stock)
Food and Recipes of Westward Expansion
Cooking Throughout American History
by George Erdosh
1st edition from PowerKids Press
for 1st-4th grade
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$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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Fortune's Bones
by Marilyn Nelson, notes and annotations by Pamela Espeland
from Front Street
for 4th-8th grade
2005 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Forward March to Freedom
by Barbara Kay Greenleaf
from Grosset & Dunlap
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$14.00 (1 in stock)
From Log Cabin to White House with Abraham Lincoln - Set
from Multnomah Books
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in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$4.00 (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
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Going West
by Jean Van Leeuwen, illustrated by Thomas Allen
from Dial Books for Young Readers
Historical fiction for 2nd-4th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Gold in California
North Star Books #2
by Paul I. Wellman, illustrated by Lorence F. Bjorklund
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Gold Rush
by May McNeer, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Golden Book History of the United States Volume 5
by Earl Schenck Miers
from Golden Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Golden Book History of the United States Volume 6
by Earl Schenck Miers
from Golden Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Golden Book History of the United States Volume 7
by Earl Schenck Miers
from Golden Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Golden Book of the Civil War
by Charles Flato (adapter), with an introduction by Bruce Catton
from Golden Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Good Ol' Cowboy Stories
by Jack Terry
from Harvest House
for 4th-7th grade
in Cowboys & Cattlemen (Location: HISA-19CO)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Grandfather's Dance
by Patricia MacLachlan
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
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
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Hattie Big Sky
by Kirby Larson
from Delacorte Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Hear My Sorrow
by Deborah Hopkinson
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
Here Rolled the Covered Wagons
by Albert Salisbury
from Superior Publishing Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Home Crafts (Historic Communities)
by Bobbie Kalman
from Crabtree Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
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
for 3rd-6th grade
in How and Why Wonder Books (Location: VIN-H&W)
How Sweet the Sound
by Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Frank Morrison
from Atheneum
for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
If You Lived at the Time of the Civil War
by Kay Moore
from Perfection Learning
for 2nd-6th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$16.60
Incredible Journey of Lewis and Clark
by Rhoda Blumberg
1st edition from HarperCollins
Historical Reference for 4th-6th grade
in Lewis & Clark (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Indians and Cowboys
by Sanford Tousey
1951 Edition from Rand McNally
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Inventing the Future
by David Edward Sloane, Marfe Ferguson Delano
from National Geographic
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Ironclads of the Civil War
by Frank R. Donovan
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 4th-8th grade
in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
Jane Addams
A Discovery Book
by Helen Stone Peterson
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
January's Sparrow
by Patricia Polacco
from Philomel Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Jeb Stuart
Historical American Biographies
by Lynda Pflueger
from Enslow
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Jed Smith, Young Western Explorer
by Olive W. Burt
from Bobbs-Merril Co
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in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Joe Meek
by Shannon Garst
from Julian Messner
for 4th-7th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
John Charles Fremont
by Ronald Syme
from William Morrow & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
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
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
Kathleen: A Yankee Girl at Gettysburg
by Alice Turner Curtis
from Gramercy Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.50 (2 in stock)
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
in American Girl (Location: SER-AMGIRL)
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)
Kit Carson: Folk Hero and Man
by Noel B. Gerson
from Doubleday & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
La Salle of the Mississippi
by Ronald Syme
from William Morrow & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
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