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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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Abe Lincoln Grows Up
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Abraham Lincoln
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Abraham Lincoln
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
75th Anniversary Edition from Beautiful Feet Books
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Across America on an Emigrant Train
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1994 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
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Amazing Impossible Erie Canal
by Cheryl Harness
from Aladdin Paperbacks
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Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
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1940 Newbery Honor Book
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$9.99
Captain's Dog
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1956 Newbery Medal winner
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Children of the Covered Wagon
by Mary Jane Carr
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
Historical Fiction for 3rd-5th grade
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Civil War Days
American Kids in History
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Civil War for Kids
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Clara Barton
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by Geoff & Janet Benge
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from Wayne State University
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Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
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Curious World of Calpurnia Tate
by Jacqueline Kelly
Reprint from Square Fish Publishing
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2010 Newbery Honor
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Daily Life in a Covered Wagon
by Paul Erickson
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Daniel Boone
by Daniel Boone
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Davy Crockett
by David Crockett
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Biography for 4th-8th grade
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Davy Crockett
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
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$11.99
Diary of an Early American Boy
by Eric Sloane
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Did You Invent The Phone All Alone, Alexander Graham Bell?
by Gilda Berger, Melvin Berger
from Scholastic Inc.
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$4.99
Down the Big River
Purple House Living History Library
by Stephen W. Meader, illustrated by Edward Shenton
from Purple House Press
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$10.99
Draw 50 Boats, Ships, Trucks, and Trains
by Lee Ames
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Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
by Jacqueline Kelly
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2010 Newbery Honor
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Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
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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)
$9.99
Fear in the Forest
by Cateau de Leeuw
from Bethlehem Books
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First Four Years
Little House Series #9
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
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$8.99
Forty-Acre Swindle
TrailBlazer Books
by Dave & Neta Jackson
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Francis Scott Key
Sowers Series
by David Collins
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Frederick Douglass: The Right to Dignity
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Freedom's Pen
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
New Edition from Moody Press
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George Washington Carver
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
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Gettysburg Address in Translation
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Go Free or Die
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Grandfather's Dance
by Patricia MacLachlan
from HarperCollins
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$6.99
Great Fire
by Jim Murphy
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1996 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
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$7.99
Harriet Tubman
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
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Hattie Big Sky
by Kirby Larson
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$8.99
History of US Book 4
History of US Book 4
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
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History of US Book 5
History of US Book 5
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
in History of US (Location: HISA-HAKIM)
$15.95
History of US Book 6
History of US Book 6
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
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History of US Book 7
History of US Book 7
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
in History of US (Location: HISA-HAKIM)
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How We Crossed the West
by Rosalyn Schanzer
Reprint from National Geographic
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$7.95
Incredible Journey of Lewis and Clark
by Rhoda Blumberg
from HarperCollins
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Industrial Revolution
by Carla Mooney
from Nomad Press
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Iron Scouts of the Confederacy
by Lee McGiffin
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
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$10.50
Jed Smith
by Frank Latham
from Christian Liberty Press
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Jessie Benton Fremont
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John Flynn
by Geoff & Janet Benge
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Biography for 4th-8th grade
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John Lincoln Clem: Civil War Drummer Boy
Based on a True Story
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Kids on Strike!
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Laura Ingalls Wilder Country
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Literature Resource for 4th-8th grade
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$24.95
Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography
by William Anderson
from HarperTrophy
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$9.99
Lewis & Clark Hands On Art & English Activities
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Lewis and Clark for Kids
by Janis Herbert
from Chicago Review Press
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Lincoln: A Photobiography
by Russell Freedman
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1988 Newbery Medal winner
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$12.99 $7.50 (5 in stock)
Listen for the Whippoorwill
Trailblazer Books
by Dave & Neta Jackson
from Castle Rock Creative
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$8.99
Little House Coloring Book
Clr Csm from HarperCollins
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$18.99
Little House in the Big Woods
Little House Series #1
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
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Little House on the Prairie
Little House Series #2
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
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$8.99
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)
$8.99
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)
$9.99
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)
$9.99
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)
$10.99
Lost City
by Ted Lewin
Reprint from Puffin Books
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$8.99
Make Way for Sam Houston
by Jean Fritz
from Penguin Putnam
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$6.99
Mary and the Trail of Tears
from Stone Arch Books
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in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.95
May B.
by Caroline Starr Rose
from Yearling
Narrative Poetry / Novel-In-Verse for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.99
Meriwether Lewis
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Mill
by David Macaulay
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-8th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$12.99
More Perfect Than the Moon
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from HarperCollins
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$7.99
Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg
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from Scholastic Press
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2010 Newbery Honor Book
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$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Mountain Men: The History of Fur Trapping - Coloring Book
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from Dover Publications
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$3.99
Museum of Early American Tools
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from Dover Publications
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in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$11.95
My Book of Little House Paper Dolls
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperFestival
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in Little House Materials (Location: LIR-LHM)
$12.99
My Little House Crafts Book
by Carolyn Strom Collins & Christina Wyss Eriksson
from HarperCollins
Arts and Crafts for 3rd-6th grade
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$13.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Of Courage Undaunted
by James Daugherty
from Beautiful Feet Books
Non-Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in Lewis & Clark (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$17.95
Oregon Trail #01
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Oregon Trail #02
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Oregon Trail #03
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Oregon Trail #04
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
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Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Oregon Trail #06
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Oregon Trail #07
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Oregon Trail #08
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
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Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$31.00
Orphan Train Rider
by Andrea Warren
from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-6th grade
in Gilded Age (1865-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$9.95
Our Only May Amelia
by Jennifer L. Holm
from HarperCollins
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.99 $3.50 (1 in stock)
Phebe Fairchild
by Lois Lenski
1st Edition Thus from Purple House Press
for 3rd-8th grade
1937 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$17.99
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