American History to 1877 - HIST 121 Resource Guide

(1861–5) Sometimes called ‘the War Between the States’ or ‘the Second American Revolution’...

Site of one of the decisive battles of the American Civil War: a Confederate defeat by Union forces 1-3 July 1863...

The first battle of Bull Run (or first battle of Manassas) was the first major engagement of the Civil War...

Fortification, built 1829–60, on a shoal at the entrance to the harbor of Charleston, S.C., and named for Gen. Thomas Sumter; scene of the opening engagement of the Civil War...

Speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln on Nov. 19, 1863, at the dedication of the national cemetery on the Civil War battlefield of Gettysburg, Pa. It is one of the most famous and most quoted of modern speeches...

Digitized collection. A selection of original Civil War correspondence between soldiers from the battlefields and their family members and friends on the homefront. These letters describe firsthand accounts of battle, reflections on the nature of war and its profound effect on those involved - both on those at the front lines and loved ones who remained anxiously at home.

US Supreme Court decision of 1857 which denied ‘blacks’ (African Americans) US citizenship and made slavery legal in all US territories.

The Union Conscription Act of Mar. 3, 1863, provided that all able-bodied males between the ages of 20 and 45 were liable to military service...

The largest civil engineering project in western history to that date, the railroad was over 4,800 km/3,000 mi long and crossed deserts, canyons, and mountains, requiring the development of new construction techniques...

Bill that became law on May 30, 1854, by which the U.S. Congress established the territories of Kansas and Nebraska...

The War Between the States rages. In 1863, the Confederate Army seems poised for victory. Following the bloody battle of Antietam, President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation. Former slaves join the Union army in droves. With superior transportation (railroads), communication (telegraph lines), and battlefield technology, the Union prevails and America is on track to become a global superpower.

Hailed as a landmark in historical storytelling, Ken Burns’ classic Emmy Award–winning nine-part series The Civil War brings to life America’s most destructive—and defining—conflict. 9 episodes

Ruined cities, scorched countryside, over 600,000 deaths—these were the Civil War’s direct results. But its long-term effects were no less cataclysmic and are still at work in American society.

Term used by Americans generally in reference to a native of New England and by non-Americans, especially the British, in reference to an American of any section...

1808–89, American statesman, President of the Southern Confederacy...

US millionaire industrialist and philanthropist. He was the founder of Standard Oil in 1870, from which were descended four of the world's largest oil companies - Amoco, Chevron, Exxon, and Mobil...

1820–91, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Lancaster, Ohio. Sherman is said by many to be the greatest of the Civil War generals...

As a religious mystic, she travelled throughout New England and the Midwest on speaking tours and was one of the first African-American women to speak publicly for the abolitionist movement...

US abolitionist. Born a slave in Maryland, she escaped to Philadelphia (where slavery was outlawed) in 1849. She helped set up the Underground Railroad...

This World Wide Web site presents materials from Lincoln's Illinois years (1830-1861), supplemented by resources from Illinois' early years of statehood (1818-1829). Thus Lincoln/Net provides a record of Lincoln's career, but it also uses his experiences as a lens through which users might explore and analyze his social and political context.

Covers 1841-1955 and is searchable by date.

This site was founded with the intent of collecting copies of or links to as many primary documents from the period of the secession crisis as is reasonably possible, with the goal of shedding light on the causes of secession, hence of the war.

America's historic newspapers pages from 1836-1922 from the Library of Congress

Penn State's freely available digital collections relating to the Civil War era.

History, timelines, events of the Civil War and the 19th century.

The Selected Civil War Photographs Collection contains 1,118 photographs. Most of the images were made under the supervision of Mathew B. Brady, and include scenes of military personnel, preparations for battle, and battle after-effects. The collection also includes portraits of both Confederate and Union officers, and a selection of enlisted men.

Harper's Weekly was the most popular newspaper during the Civil War, and it featured stunning illustrations, and in depth stories on all the important people and events of the war.