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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
from Vintage Books
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Abe Lincoln Grows Up
by Carl Sandburg
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Biography for 5th-8th grade
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Abraham Lincoln: The Man & His Faith
by G. Frederick Owen
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Adventures of Munford: Munford Meets Lewis & Clark
by Jamie Aramini
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America in the Time of Abraham Lincoln
by Sally Senzell Isaacs
from Heinemann Library
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American Civil War
by Robert K. Krick
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American Waterways: Canal Days
by Jeanne Munn Bracken, ed.
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Amistad Slave Revolt and American Abolition
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Amistad: A Long Road to Freedom
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Battle of the Little Bighorn
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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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Biography of James A. Garfield
Sons of Liberty Series
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Black & Tan
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Black Odyssey
by Mary Cable
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$7.00 (1 in stock)
Bold Journey
by Charles Bohner
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Boston Jane
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Boy in the Alamo
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Boys' War
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Historical Non-fiction for 5th-8th grade
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Buffalo Bill
by Helen Cody Wetmore
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 6th-9th grade
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Buffalo Bill and the Wild West
by Henry Blackman Sell and Victor Weybright
Reprint from International Cody Family Assoc.
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
Bull Run
by Paul Fleischman, David Frampton (Woodcuts)
2nd edition from Scholastic Inc.
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$4.00 (2 in stock)
Carolina's Courage
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from Bob Jones University Press
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Children of the Wild West
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$5.00 (3 in stock)
Children's Stories
Tales of the Wild West Volume 6
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$2.50 (3 in stock)
Civil War
by Janet Cassidy
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$7.00 (1 in stock)
Civil War
by Pat Wesolowski
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$3.00 (2 in stock)
Civil War Artist
by Taylor Morrison
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Civil War Days
American Kids in History
by David C. King
1st edition from John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Civil War Handbook - Confederate Captain
by Robin Robinson
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Civil War Handbook - Union Lieutenant
by Robin Robinson
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in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Civil War Heroines
by Jill Canon
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$2.50 (1 in stock)
Civil War Songbook
from Dover Publications
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$6.00 (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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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Colonial Triangular Trade: An Economy Based on Human Misery
by Phyllis Raybin Emert, ed.
from History Compass
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$5.50 (1 in stock)
Cowboys
Tales of the Wild West Volume 4
by Rick Steber
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Cowboys of the Wild West
by Russell Freedman
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Cowboys of the Wild West
by Russell Freedman
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Daniel Boone
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by David Crockett
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Diary of an Early American Boy
by Eric Sloane
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Diary of an Early American Boy
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Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men
by Jeffrey Rogers Hummel
1st edition from Open Court Publishing
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Era of Modernization Through the 1930s
by Kathy Sammis
from Walch Publishing
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Eyewitness: Civil War
by John Stanchack
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
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
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$1.50 (1 in stock)
First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt
by T.J. Stiles
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
For Home & Country
by Angela Herb & Norman Bolotin
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Forever Free
by Eric Foner, illustrations edited with commentary by Joshua Brown
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Fort Clatsop
by Daniel J. Dattilio
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Fortune of War
Aubrey/Maturin #6
by Patrick O'Brian
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Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
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Forty-Acre Swindle
TrailBlazer Books
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Francis Scott Key
Sowers Series
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From Sea to Shining Sea
by Peter Marshall & David Manuel
from Revell Publishing
American History Reference for 9th-Adult
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
From Sea to Shining Sea for Children
by Peter Marshall, David Manuel & Anna Fishel
from Revell Publishing
American History Reference for 4th-6th grade
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Gettysburg: The Last Invasion
by Allen C. Guelzo
from Vintage Books
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Going West!
Kalideoscope Kids Book
by Carol A. Johmann, Elizabeth J. Rieth
from Williamson Publishing Company
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$7.50 (1 in stock)
Gold Rush Dogs
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$5.50 (1 in stock)
Gold Rush Fever
by Barbara Greenwood
from Kids Can Press
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Grandpa's Stories
Tales of the Wild West Volume 10
by Rick Steber
from Bonanza Publishing
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$2.50 (2 in stock)
Great Battles of the Civil War
from John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Great Bridge
by David McCullough
from Simon and Schuster
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Great Fire
by Jim Murphy
Later Printing from Scholastic Inc.
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$4.00 (2 in stock)
Harriet Tubman
by Frances T. Humphreville
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Heading West
by William E. Hill
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$1.50 (2 in stock)
Helen Keller: The Story of My Life
by Helen Keller
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$1.50 (4 in stock)
Henry Ford
by Dina El Nabli
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$2.50 (1 in stock)
Hero Tales
by Theodore Roosevelt & Henry Cabot Lodge
from Cumberland House
Biography for 7th-10th grade
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Heyday
by Ben Wilson
from Weidenfeld & Nicolson
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
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
in History of US (Location: HISA-HAKIM)
$15.95 $11.00 (1 in stock)
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
in History of US (Location: HISA-HAKIM)
$15.95 $11.00 (2 in stock)
History of US Book 6
History of US Book 6
by Joy Hakim
3rd edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
in History of US (Location: HISA-HAKIM)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
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
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$15.95 $11.00 (2 in stock)
Honor in the Dust
by Gregg Jones
from New American Library
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
House Divided
Young Founders 1863
by Elizabeth Massie
from Tor Classic
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
If You Grew Up With Abraham Lincoln
If You Were There
by Ann McGovern
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Non-fiction for 2nd-5th grade
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$4.00 (2 in stock)
If You Lived at the Time of the Civil War
If You Were There
by Kay Moore
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Non-fiction for 2nd-5th grade
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$3.00 (2 in stock)
If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon
If You Were There
by Ellen Levine
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Non-fiction for 2nd-5th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
by Harriet Jacobs
from Dover Publications
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$5.00 $3.00 (1 in stock)
Incredible Journey of Lewis and Clark
by Rhoda Blumberg
from HarperCollins
Historical Reference for 4th-7th grade
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$12.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Incredible Journey of Lewis and Clark
by Rhoda Blumberg
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Reference for 4th-6th grade
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$6.00 (2 in stock)
Indians
Tales of the Wild West Volume 3
by Rick Steber
from Bonanza Publishing
for 4th-7th grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Industrial Revolution
by Carla Mooney
from Nomad Press
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$15.95 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Iron Scouts of the Confederacy
by Lee McGiffin
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
J. Pierpont Morgan
by Michael Burgan
1st edition from Compass Point Books
for 4th-7th grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Jason Lee
Sowers Series
by Charles Ludwig
from Mott Media
Biography for 7th-9th grade
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$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Jed Smith
by Frank Latham
from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 4th-8th grade
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$10.50 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Jericho's Journey
by G. Clifton Wisler
from Puffin Books
for 4th-6th grade
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
John Paul Jones
Sterling Point Books
by Armstrong Sperry
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Biography for 5th-9th grade
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Johnny Appleseed
from Puffin Books
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Journal of a Trapper
by Osborne Russell, edited by Aubrey L. Haines
from Bison Books
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Journey West on the Oregon Trail
by Cecile Alyce Nolan
from Rain Dance Publishing
for 2nd-7th grade
in Oregon Trail (Location: HISA-19OR)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Just a Few Words, Mr. Lincoln
An All Aboard Reading Reader Level 4
by Jean Fritz
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 2nd-3rd grade
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Kirsten's Cook Book
American Girl
by Jodi Evert
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-5th grade
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$2.40 (1 in stock)
Klondike Fever
by Michael Cooper
from Clarion Books
for 4th-6th rgade
in Gilded Age (1865-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Labor's Untold Story
by Herbert M. Morais, Richard O. Boyer
3rd edition from United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of Amer
for 9th-Adult
in Industrialization & Organized Labor (Location: HISA-19IND)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
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