The Nineteenth Century in Print: Books

Sampler of Collection Themes:
Introduction | The Civil War | Slavery and Abolition | Religion | Education
Self-Help and Self-Improvement | Travel and Westward Expansion | Poetry

The Civil War

Illustration from Davens book

No set of events was as important in American life during the second half of the nineteenth century as the Civil War and its aftermath. Not surprisingly, many works in The Nineteenth Century in Print shed light on the events and issues of the wartime period, from the conflict’s origins in the sectional crisis over the existence and extension of slavery, to secession and the experience of war, to Lincoln’s assassination and the war’s aftermath in the Reconstruction era. Here is a sampling of these titles:

Lawrence O’Brien Branch, Congressional Intervention in Regard to Slavery in the Territories. Letter of Lawrence O'B. Branch to His Constituents (1860).

Phillips Brooks, The Life and Death of Abraham Lincoln. A Sermon Preached at the Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, Sunday Morning, April 23, 1865 (1865).

William Wells Brown, The Negro in the American Rebellion; His Heroism and His Fidelity (1867).

A. P. Butler, Speech of Hon. A. P. Butler, of South Carolina, on the Bill to Enable the People of Kansas Territory to Form a Constitution and State Government, Preparatory to Their Admission into the Union, etc. Delivered in the United States Senate, June 12, 1856 (1856).

J. E. Carnes, Address, on the Duty of the Slave States in the Present Crisis (1860).

George B. Cheever, Protest against the Robbery of the Colored Race by the Proposed Amendment of the Constitution (1866).

William Turner Coggeshall, Lincoln Memorial. The Journeys of Abraham Lincoln: From Springfield to Washington, 1861, as President Elect; and from Washington to Springfield, 1865, as President Martyred; Comprising an Account of Public Ceremonies on the Entire Route, and Full Details of Both Journeys (1865).

Nathaniel Colver, The Fugitive Slave Bill; or, God's Laws Paramount to the Laws of Men (1850).

D. G. Crotty, Four Years Campaigning in the Army of the Potomac (1874).

[Richard Miller Devens], The Pictorial Book of Anecdotes and Incidents of the War of the Rebellion, Civil, Military, Naval and Domestic (1867).

S. Emma E. Edmonds, Nurse and Spy in the Union Army: Comprising the Adventures and Experiences of a Woman in Hospitals, Camps and Battle-Fields (1865).

Thomas T. Ellis, Leaves from the Diary of an Army Surgeon; or, Incidents of Field, Camp, and Hospital Life (1863).

C. C. S. Farrar, The War, Its Causes and Consequences (1864).

Horace Greeley, The American Conflict; a History of the Great Rebellion in the United States of America, 1860-'65 Volume 1 and Volume 2 (1866 ).

Hinton Rowan Helper, Compendium of the Impending Crisis of the South (1860).

Heman Humphrey, The Missouri Compromise: An Address Delivered before the Citizens of Pittsfield . . . on Sabbath Evening, Feb. 26, 1854 (1854).

J. William Jones, Personal Reminiscences, Anecdotes, and Letters of Gen. Robert E. Lee (1875).

James McKaye, The Mastership and Its Fruits: The Emancipated Slave Face to Face with His Old Master: A Supplemental Report to Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War (1864).

Frank Moore, Women of the War; Their Heroism and Self-Sacrifice (1866).

John Lothrop Motley, The Causes of the American Civil War. A Letter to the London Times (1861).

National Freedmen's Aid Union, The Industry of the Freedmen of America ([1867)].

Ohio Boys in Dixie: The Adventures of Twenty-Two Scouts Sent by Gen. O. M. Mitchell to Destroy a Railroad (1863).

Radical Rule; Military Outrage in Georgia. (1868).

Whitelaw Reid, After the War: a Southern Tour, May 1, 1865 to May 1, 1866 (1866).

Report of the Committee of Merchants for the Relief of Colored People, Suffering from the Late Riots in the City of New York (1863).

William Howard Russell, My Diary North and South (1863).

Sermons on Slavery & the Civil War (1851-1865).

William H. Seward, Speech of William H. Seward, for the Immediate Admission of Kansas into the Union. Senate of the United States, April 9, 1856 (1856).

R. L. Stanton, The Church and the Rebellion against the Government of the United States; and the Agency of the Church, North and South, in Relation Thereto (1864).

Charles Stearns, The Black Man of the South, and the Rebels; or, The Characteristics of the Former, and the Recent Outrages of the Latter (1872).

Robert Tansill, A Free and Impartial Exposition of the Causes Which Led to the Failure of the Confederate States to Establish Their Independence. By Colonel Robert Tansill, of the Late Confederate States Ar my (1865).

George Alfred Townsend, The Life, Crime, and Capture of John Wilkes Booth, with a Full Sketch of the Conspiracy of Which He Was the Leader, and the Pursuit, Trial and Execution of His Accomplices ([1865]).

John Townsend, The Doom of Slavery in the Union: Its Safety Out of It (1860).

United States Congress, Senate Select Committee on the Harper's Ferry Invasion, Report [of] the Select Committee of the Senate Appointed to Inquire into the Late Invasion and Seizure of the Public Property at Harper's Ferry (1860).

United States War Department, U.S. Infantry Tactics, for the Instruction, Exercise, and Manoeuvres of the United States Infantry, Including Infantry of the Line, Light Infantry, and Riflemen. Pre pared under the Direction of the War Department, and Authorized and Adopted by the Secretary of War, May 1, 1861 (1862).

“A Virginian” [John Esten Cooke], The Life of Stonewall Jackson. From Official Papers, Contemporary Narratives, and Personal Acquaintance (1863).

The War and Slavery; or, Victory Only through Emancipation(1861).

Andrew J. Wilcox, The Powers of the Federal Government over Slavery! (1862).


Introduction | The Civil War | Slavery and Abolition | Religion | Education
Self-Help and Self-Improvement | Travel and Westward Expansion | Poetry

The Nineteenth Century in Print: Books