American History in the 1800s – 1809-1861 – Free History Books

Message from the President of the United States Recommending an Immediate Declaration of War, Against Great Britain – US War of 1812

Washington: 1812

President James Madison’s 12-page letter to Congress, dated June 1, 1812, explaining the reasons he considered it necessary to declare war against Great Britain. Published in 1812. Reasons for American Civil War. Mexican War 1846-1848. Abolition in the US. United States Manifest Destiny. Abolition in the 1800s. James Monroe as President. Andrew Jackson US President. President James Madison. James Monroe 5th President. Compromise of 1850 Impact. Martin Van Buren presidential term. Zachary Taylor Presidential Term. James K. Polk President. Bloody Kansas History. Zachary Taylor US President.

A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation – President James Madison

Allgor, Catherine

Holt 2006 Dewey Dec. 973.5

“An extraordinary American comes to life in this vivid, groundbreaking portrait of the early days of the republic – and the birth of modern politics. Within a few years [of her arrival in Washington in 1812], she had mastered both the social and political intricacies of the city, and by her death in 1849 was the most celebrated person in Washington… Catherine Allgor reveals that while Dolley’s gender prevented her from openly playing politics, those very constraints of womanhood allowed her to construct an American democratic ruling style, and to achieve her husband’s political goals. And the way that she did so – by emphasizing cooperation over coercion, building bridges instead of bunkers – has left us with not only an important story about our past but a model for a modern form of politics.” -Publisher

Contents: Prologue — 1. Mrs. Madison goes to Washington — 2. Meeting Madison — 3. Lady about town — 4. Social work — 5. The merry affair — 6. Portrait of a lady — 7. Sex, lies, and the election of 1808 — 8. Lady presidentess — 9. Presiding genius — 10. “The great centre of attraction” — 11. Family matters — 12. The Republican Queen — 13. Affairs to remember — 14. “Mr. Madison’s war” — 15. Potomac phoenix — 16. To home and history — 17. Legacies — Epilogue. Reasons for American Civil War. Mexican War 1846-1848. Abolition in the US. United States Manifest Destiny. Abolition in the 1800s. James Monroe as President. Andrew Jackson US President. President James Madison. James Monroe 5th President. Compromise of 1850 Impact. Martin Van Buren presidential term. Zachary Taylor Presidential Term. James K. Polk President. Bloody Kansas History. Zachary Taylor US President.

Parlor Politics: In Which the Ladies of Washington Help Build a City and a Government – – American History in the 1800s

Allgor, Catherine

University of Virginia 2000 Dewey Dec. 973.5

When Thomas Jefferson moved his Republican administration into the new capital city in 1801, one of his first acts was to abolish any formal receptions, except on specific holidays. However, without the face-to-face relationships and networks created in society, the American experiment in government could not function. Into this conundrum stepped women like Dolley Madison and Louisa Catherine Adams, women of political families who used the unofficial, social sphere to cement the relationships that politics needed to work. Constrained by the cultural taboos on “petticoat politicking,” women rarely wrote forthrightly about their ambitions and plans, preferring to cast their political work as an extension of virtuous family roles. But by analyzing their correspondence, gossip events, “etiquette wars,” and the material culture that surrounded them, Allgor finds that these women acted with conscious political intent. In the days before organized political parties, the social machine built by these early federal women helped to ease the transition from a failed republican experiment to a burgeoning democracy.

Contents: President Thomas Jefferson in Washington City — Dolley Madison takes command — Washington women in public — Louisa Catherine Adams campaigns for the presidency — The fall of Andrew Jackson’s cabinet. Reasons for American Civil War. Mexican War 1846-1848. Abolition in the US. United States Manifest Destiny. Abolition in the 1800s. James Monroe as President. Andrew Jackson US President. President James Madison. James Monroe 5th President. Compromise of 1850 Impact. Martin Van Buren presidential term. Zachary Taylor Presidential Term. James K. Polk President. Bloody Kansas History. Zachary Taylor US President.

Remembering Slavery: African Americans Talk about their Personal Experiences of Slavery and Emancipation – Abolition in the 1800s

Berlin, Ira, Favreau, Marc, and Miller, Steven F.

New Press 1998 Dewey Dec. 973.6

“Using excerpts from the thousands of interviews conducted with ex-slaves in the 1930s by researchers working with the Federal Writers’ Project, the astonishing audiotapes made available the only known recordings of people who actually experienced enslavement–recordings that had gathered dust in the Library of Congress until they were rendered audible for the first time specifically for this set… Includes a comprehensive introductory essay by preeminent slavery historian Ira Berlin, chapters on aspects of slave life, including relationships with owners, work, family culture, the Civil War, and Emancipation; complete transcript of the live recordings [packaged with the book], extensive additional interviews with former slaves; little-known period photographs, including some of the former slaves interviewed on the companion tapes.” Publisher. Reasons for American Civil War. Mexican War 1846-1848. Abolition in the US. United States Manifest Destiny. Abolition in the 1800s. James Monroe as President. Andrew Jackson US President. President James Madison. James Monroe 5th President. Compromise of 1850 Impact. Martin Van Buren presidential term. Zachary Taylor Presidential Term. James K. Polk President. Bloody Kansas History. Zachary Taylor US President.

Contents: Slavery as memory and history — The faces of power: slaves and owners — Work and slave life: “from can to can’t” — Family life in slavery: “our folks” — Slave culture: “honest and fair service to the Lord and all mankind everywhere” — Slaves no more: Civil War and the coming of freedom — Appendixes.

Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America – Abolition in the 1800s

Bordewich, Fergus M

Amistad 2005 Dewey Dec. 973.6

Bound for Canaan tells the stories of men and women like David Ruggles, who invented the black underground in New York City; bold Quakers like Isaac Hopper and Levi Coffin, who risked their lives to build the Underground Railroad; and the inimitable Harriet Tubman. Interweaving thrilling personal stories with the politics of slavery and abolition, Bound for Canaan shows how the Underground Railroad gave birth to this country’s first racially integrated, religiously inspired movement for social change.

Contents: pt. 1. Beginnings: 1800 to 1830. — An evil without remedy — The fate of millions unborn — A gadfly in Philadelphia — The hand of God in North Carolina — The spreading stain — pt. 2. Connections: The 1830s. — Free as sure as the Devil — Fanatics, disorganizers, and disturbers of the peace — The grandest revolution the world has ever seen — A whole-souled man — pt. 3. Confrontation: The 1840s. — Across the Ohio — The car of freedom — Our watchword is ONWARD — The saltwater underground — pt. 4. Victory: The 1850s. — A disease of the body politic — Do we call this the land of the free? — General Tubman — Laboratories of freedom — The last train. Reasons for American Civil War. Mexican War 1846-1848. Abolition in the US. United States Manifest Destiny. Abolition in the 1800s. James Monroe as President. Andrew Jackson US President. President James Madison. James Monroe 5th President. Compromise of 1850 Impact. Martin Van Buren presidential term. Zachary Taylor Presidential Term. James K. Polk President. Bloody Kansas History. Zachary Taylor US President.

Jacksonian and Antebellum Age: People and Perspectives – American History in the 1800s

Cheathem, Mark Renfred, ed.

ABC-CLIO 2008

Spans the “age of the common man” by focusing on the everyday citizens who helped drive the big social changes of the times–or were simply caught up in them. The coverage takes readers into the lives of the frontiersmen, townspeople, women, children, religious groups, abolitionists, slaves, slave traders, and others who effected, and were affected by, the history of those times. 9 essays. Reasons for American Civil War. Mexican War 1846-1848. Abolition in the US. United States Manifest Destiny. Abolition in the 1800s. James Monroe as President. Andrew Jackson US President. President James Madison. James Monroe 5th President. Compromise of 1850 Impact. Martin Van Buren presidential term. Zachary Taylor Presidential Term. James K. Polk President. Bloody Kansas History. Zachary Taylor US President.

North America Divided; the Mexican War 1846-1848 – Mexican War 1846-1848

Connor, Seymour V. and Faulk, Odie B.

Oxford University 1971 Dewey Dec. 973.6

“… too many scholars who have written about this war did so from a position of preconceived bias, placing emphasis on such vaguely related issues as the slavery conflict, American “imperialism,” the so-called Nueces boundary dispute, and the alleged intrigues of the much-maligned James K. Polk (to the extent that they forgot other important considerations). For example, historians have worried so endlessly about when Polk framed his war message (before or after receiving notice from Taylor about the Mexican attack on Thornton’s dragoons) that they have failed to note that Mexico already had declared war on the United States; they have argued the abstract concept of Manifest Destiny to the extent that they have forgotten the British desire for California; nor have they considered the British involvements in Mexico stemming from the English argument with the United States over the Oregon Territory.” – Author’s Preface

Contents: Origins of the war — Taylor’s campaign — New Mexico and Chihuahua — The far west — The decisive campaign — Nations divided — End of war. Reasons for American Civil War. Mexican War 1846-1848. Abolition in the US. United States Manifest Destiny. Abolition in the 1800s. James Monroe as President. Andrew Jackson US President. President James Madison. James Monroe 5th President. Compromise of 1850 Impact. Martin Van Buren presidential term. Zachary Taylor Presidential Term. James K. Polk President. Bloody Kansas History. Zachary Taylor US President.

The Crisis of 1830-1842 in Canadian-American Relations – American History in the 1800s

Corey, Albert B.

New Haven: Yale University 1941 Dewey Dec. 973.5

Published for the Carnegie Endowment of International Peace. The crisis in question brought the U.S. and Great Britain extremely close to war, which was only avoided, according to the author, by the efforts of a handful of British and American statesmen; most notably Lord Durham. Not only did they prevent war, they earned some of the credit for the fact that the border between America and Canada remains relatively unguarded to this day.

Contents: The setting: countries and peoples – Before the rebellions – The border in ferment – Curbing the patriots – Rise of the secret societies – Crosscurrents of opinion – Military and naval problems: policy and practice – The hunters try again – The McLeod Case – National defense – The Webster Ashburton Treaty – Conclusion. Reasons for American Civil War. Mexican War 1846-1848. Abolition in the US. United States Manifest Destiny. Abolition in the 1800s. James Monroe as President. Andrew Jackson US President. President James Madison. James Monroe 5th President. Compromise of 1850 Impact. Martin Van Buren presidential term. Zachary Taylor Presidential Term. James K. Polk President. Bloody Kansas History. Zachary Taylor US President.

The Coming of the Civil War – Reasons for American Civil War

Craven, Avery

NY: Scribern’s Sons 1942 Dewey Dec. 973.6

The author has tried to study the causes of the war as a scientist and not as a partisan. Recent scholars had “lost respect for simple explanations of the growth of sectional consciousness and sectional hatreds. Economic and social forces as well as political ones have been considered and the effort to fix blame has yielded to a desire to know why Americans only two generations away from the formation of their Union should have held positions so uncompromisable that only a war could alter them.” -Author’s Preface.

Contents: The National setting – A way of life – The rural depression, 1800-1832 – By the sweat of their faces – The cotton kingdom rises – The northern attack on slavery – The southern defense of slavery – Slavery and expansion – The politicians and slavery – Political revolt – The first crisis – The union on trial – The northwest gets excited – Sectional reactions to events – Building the Republican Party – The last crisis – The breakup of the union. Reasons for American Civil War. Mexican War 1846-1848. Abolition in the US. United States Manifest Destiny. Abolition in the 1800s. James Monroe as President. Andrew Jackson US President. President James Madison. James Monroe 5th President. Compromise of 1850 Impact. Martin Van Buren presidential term. Zachary Taylor Presidential Term. James K. Polk President. Bloody Kansas History. Zachary Taylor US President.

1812: The Navy’s War – US War of 1812

Daughan, George C.

Basic 2011 Dewey Dec. 973.5

In 1812: The Navy’s War, award-winning naval historian George C. Daughan tells the astounding story of the War of 1812, when a tiny, battle-tested team of American commanders, seamen, and privateers took on the haughty skippers of the mighty Royal Navy, defeated them time and again, and played a key role in winning the conflict that cemented America’s newly won independence. When war broke out in 1812, America’s prospects looked dismal. With the young republic’s merchantmen facing increasing harassment from the British navy on the high seas, it was clear that the ocean would be the war’s primary battlefield — but America’s navy, only twenty ships strong, faced a practiced British fleet of more than a thousand men-of-war. Still, through a combination of nautical deftness and sheer bravado, a handful of heroic captains — men like Oliver Hazard Perry, Stephen Decatur, John Rodgers, and Isaac Hull — and their stalwart crews managed to take the fight to the British, turning the tide of the war: on the Great Lakes, in the Atlantic, and even in the eastern Pacific. Drawing on a wealth of archival research, Daughan thrillingly details the pitched naval battles that shaped the war, and shows how American naval efforts dovetailed with — and often salvaged — the U.S. Army’s troubled campaigns ashore. By the war’s end in 1815, no American could question the navy’s vital role in preserving the nation’s independence and safeguarding its interests, both at home and across the globe. A stunning contribution to military and national history, 1812: The Navy’s War is the first complete account in more than a century of how the U.S. Navy rescued the fledgling nation and secured America’s future. Reasons for American Civil War. Mexican War 1846-1848. Abolition in the US. United States Manifest Destiny. Abolition in the 1800s. James Monroe as President. Andrew Jackson US President. President James Madison. James Monroe 5th President. Compromise of 1850 Impact. Martin Van Buren presidential term. Zachary Taylor Presidential Term. James K. Polk President. Bloody Kansas History. Zachary Taylor US President.

Contents: Roots of war — Free trade and sailors’ rights — Jefferson’s embargo and the slide toward war — Madison’s strategy — The United States declares war — Blue-water victories — The Constitution and the Guerriere — Ripe apples and bitter fruit: the Canadian invasion — Canadian disasters accumulate — More blue-water victories — The Constitution and the Java — A sea change — Napoleon and Alexander — The Canadian invasion resumes — The Chesapeake and the Shannon — Raids in Chesapeake Bay — Oliver Hazard Perry and Lake Erie — Attack on Montreal — The war at sea in 1813 — The allies and Napoleon — British and American war plans — The British blockade — The Essex — Burning Washington — The war at sea continues in 1814 — Negotiations begin at Ghent — Baltimore — Plattsburg — A peace treaty — The Hartford Convention — New Orleans — An amazing change — A new era — From temporary armistice to lasting peace: the importance of the war.

The Year of Decision: 1846 – Mexican War 1846-1848

De Voto, Bernard Augustine

Boston: Houghton Mifflin 1950 Dewey Dec. 973.5

“‘Year of Decision 1846’ tells many fascinating stories of the U.S. explorers who began the western march from the Mississippi to the Pacific, from Canada to the annexation of Texas, California, and the southwest lands from Mexico. It is the penultimate book of a trilogy which includes ‘Across the Wide Missouri’ (for which DeVoto won both the Pulitzer and Bancroft prizes) and ‘The Course of Empire’. DeVoto’s narrative covers the expanding Western frontier, the Mormons, the Donner party, Fremont’s exploration, the Army of the West, and takes readers into Native American tribal life.” -Publisher. Reasons for American Civil War. Mexican War 1846-1848. Abolition in the US. United States Manifest Destiny. Abolition in the 1800s. James Monroe as President. Andrew Jackson US President. President James Madison. James Monroe 5th President. Compromise of 1850 Impact. Martin Van Buren presidential term. Zachary Taylor Presidential Term. James K. Polk President. Bloody Kansas History. Zachary Taylor US President.

Antislavery; the Crusade for Freedom in America – Abolition in the US

Dumond, Dwight L.

University of Michigan 1961 Dewey Dec. 973.6

“This work of dedicated scholarship and immense learning reveals with extraordinary force the truth behind the Civil War. Year by year slavery in the U.S. became more sinister. It contaminated the body politic, it tainted all institutional life, it became a colossus of arbitrary power and greed.” – Publisher

“Here, in one volume, is contained enough evidence, enough information to wipe segregation from our land. It is fascinating, though at times cruel reading. But it is factual. It has the force of a sledge hammer. I defy anyone to read this book without cringing with shame and embarrassment. It is a must reading for all Americans, North and South.” – Historian Benjamin Fine. Reasons for American Civil War. Mexican War 1846-1848. Abolition in the US. United States Manifest Destiny. Abolition in the 1800s. James Monroe as President. Andrew Jackson US President. President James Madison. James Monroe 5th President. Compromise of 1850 Impact. Martin Van Buren presidential term. Zachary Taylor Presidential Term. James K. Polk President. Bloody Kansas History. Zachary Taylor US President.

Slavemaster President: The Double Career of James Polk – American History in the 1800s

Dusinberre, William

Oxford Univ. 2003 Dewey Dec. 973.6

James K. Polk held the office of President from 1845 to 1849, a period when the expansion of slavery into the territories emerged as a pressing question in American politics. During his presidency, the slave period of Texas was annexed and the future of slavery in the Mexican Cession was debated. Polk also owned a substantial cotton plantation in northern Mississippi and 54 slaves. He was an absentee master who had a string of overseers or agents manage his plantation and did not visit his estate while he was in the White House. In this book, William Dusinberre reconstructs the world of Polk’s estate and the lives of his slaves, and analyzes how Polk’s experience as a slavemaster conditioned his stance towards slavery-related issues. Dusinberre argues that Polk’s policies helped precipitate the civil war he had sought to avert.

Contents: A market for labor power — Flight (I) Tennessee — Flight (II) the Mississippi planation — Profit — The nature of the regime — The spirit of governance — Births and deaths — Family and community — Privileges — Polk’s early response to the antislavery movement — Texas and the Mexican War — Slavery and Union — Alternatives. Reasons for American Civil War. Mexican War 1846-1848. Abolition in the US. United States Manifest Destiny. Abolition in the 1800s. James Monroe as President. Andrew Jackson US President. President James Madison. James Monroe 5th President. Compromise of 1850 Impact. Martin Van Buren presidential term. Zachary Taylor Presidential Term. James K. Polk President. Bloody Kansas History. Zachary Taylor US President.