As all the major media outlets have not reported this story, I thought I would mention it here. On Tuesday (July 29, 2008) the House of Representatives approved a resolution that apologized for slavery. This resolution (H. Res. 194) notes that “the system of slavery and the visceral racism against persons of African descent upon […]

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I want to highlight an advertisement for William Still’s Underground Railroad that is available on the Ohio Historical Society website. Published in Cleveland Gazette on November 11, 1883, the ad claims that Still’s book “[was] one which must prove interesting and profitable to every reader.” If students read excerpts from Still’s book, some might want […]

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If your class is going to study the Underground Railroad, one website you should check out is Documenting the American South (DocSouth). The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has put together a great collection of primary sources, including slave narratives published before 1920. To see a list of what they have available, go […]

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I was searching the Brady-Handy Collection on the Library of Congress website and found an interesting picture of Washington D.C. that I wanted to highlight. You can see the Trinity Episcopal church with the US Capital in the background. To see the full image, go here. Seven other images are available in that collection, including […]

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I want to point out an article that the Chicago Press & Tribune published on July 1, 1858. Almost two months before the first 1858 debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, the Tribune provided an account of the exchange between those two Illinois politicians in October 1854. Even though the Tribune described the event […]

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The Atlantic’s archive also has selected full text articles published between 1857 and November 1995. While a number of interesting articles are available, I wanted to point out one from the October 1860 issue. A month before the November 1860 election, James Russell Lowell discussed the four candidates and potential outcomes. Lowell realized that “this […]

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If you have not visited the Atlantic magazine’s website, you might want to take a look at the free archive of articles published after November 1995. I have not had a chance to look through everything, but I wanted to point out two articles that could be used as a way to start a discussion […]

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The Library of Congress has a number of interesting image collections that students might like to see. One I might use in my class next semester is on President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. They have pictures of Ford’s theater, the conspirators, the funeral, and a wanted poster. I’ve only included the top half of that poster, […]

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Before the Supreme Court announces a decision in important cases, newspapers often try to predict the verdict. This also occurred in the 19th Century and some history students might be interested to see what editors said before the Dred Scott decision was announced after President James Buchanan’s inauguration in March 1857. Two months earlier the […]

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One interesting aspect of John Brown’s attack on Harpers Ferry in October 1859 was the lack of a uniform response in the South. Even though Brown hoped to destroy slavery with his raid in western Virginia, southerners had a variety of responses. Many southern newspapers published articles in late October 1859 that held Republicans responsible […]

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