The Nineteenth Century in Print: Periodicals
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You may go directly to the collection, The Nineteenth Century in Print: Periodicals, in American Memory.
The Nineteenth Century in Print: Periodicals is one of two components of the Making of America project of the University of Michigan and Cornell University in collaboration with the Library of Congress. The periodicals component of The Nineteenth Century in Print includes more than 20 popular periodicals digitized by Cornell University Library and the Library of Congress. Included are such general interest magazines as The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's New Monthly Magazine, and Putnam's Monthly, which are a rich source of American literature (short stories, poems, and serialized novels) as well as a range of articles on art, history, science, and more. Other publications, including Manufacturer and Builder, Scientific American, The United States Democratic Review, and The American Missionary catered to specific audiences. In addition, the collection features the entire run of Garden and Forest: A Journal of Horticulture, Landscape Art, and Forestry, the first U.S. magazine about horticulture; a series of "Historical Essays on Garden and Forest" provides context for understanding the significance of this specialized journal.
Articles can be viewed in two forms: page images and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) scans. The OCR scans are uncorrected and can be difficult to read. However, full-text searches of the optical scans are possible, whereas only descriptive information can be searched for the page images. If students cannot locate what they need using a search of descriptive information, they can locate items using full-text search of the OCR scans but then view the page images. The individual periodicals can also be browsed.
The Nineteenth Century in Print: Periodicals collection spans several eras of the American history curriculum. Documents in this collection, although not all encompassing, are useful tools in studying aspects of the social and political history of these eras in U.S. history:
- Expansion and Reform, 1801-1861
- The Civil War and Reconstruction, 1850-1877
- Development of the Industrial United States, 1876-1915
The collection also includes a notable document from an earlier era: a previously unpublished account by George Washington of the Braddock Campaign, which preceded the French and Indian War during the colonial era. This article appeared in the May 1893 issue of Scribner's Magazine.
The War of 1812
The War of 1812 was the new nation's first military effort to defend its sovereignty and its right to be treated as an equal in foreign relations. A number of articles written during the Civil War reflected on events during the War of 1812. One such article in the September 1861 Harper's examined the youthful military career of General Winfield Scott who, in 1861, served as General-in-Chief of the Union army. A keyword search using War of 1812 as a search term also reveals an 1850 article, "Memoir of Lewis Clover, A Prisoner of War," relating the story of a young sailor's involvement in events leading up to the war and his imprisonment.
Winfield Scott in the War of 1812, Harper's
New Monthly Magazine, Volume 23,
Issue 136, September 1861.
For a picture of Scott at the time of the
Civil War, go to page 466.
Read the two articles cited above and look at your textbook's coverage of the War of 1812:
- The author of the article on Winfield says, "Apparent misfortunes are often mercies in disguise." What events in Winfield's life is the author referring to as "misfortunes"? Why does the author regard these events as "mercies in disguise"?
- In what campaigns during the War of 1812 was Scott involved? What information about these campaigns does the article provide that your textbook does not?
- Would you describe the article as providing a positive or negative perspective on Scott? Why might such an article have been written and published in 1861?
- What events leading up to the War of 1812 does "Memoir of Lewis P. Clover" discuss? According to the author, how did these events affect young Clover?
- Make a timeline of the events of April 6, 1815, as recounted by Clover. What does your textbook say about the events? Does your textbook include any mention of prisoners of war?
- What aspects of textbooks make reading sources such as these articles useful supplements to reading textbooks? What limits do these articles have as sources?