Essay answers the question, "Why did so many Catholics come to the United States at this time?" The potato famine, urban industrialization, chance for a new life, are among some of the answers.

This blog focuses on the U.S.'s need for immigration in the 19th and early 20th century to satisfy particular labor needs and increase investments.

The National Humanities Center offers a thorough text describing the roots and results of the Second Great Awakening. Additional web links and guide for student discussion.

Scholarly article discussing the trend towards urbanization in the United States and other industrialized countries in the nineteenth century.

This article focuses on the history of who were the insiders (with rights) and the outsiders (without rights) in the early history of the US (prior to the 14th Ammendment. It was largely based on race not citizenship.

By the 1890's, the status of Indian people seemed to validate Frederick Jackson Turner's claim that "the frontier has gone, and with its going has closed the first period of American history." Natives ceased to threaten the Republic...

Read about Thomas Jefferson and his most influential action as president, the Louisiana Purchase.

This article provides an overview of Indian relations within the United States during the 19th century.

This article focuses on the study of immigrants in the early 19th century before the Civil War. Migration policy was primarily under state rather than federal control, and as long as slavery existed, there was no national definition of...

The making of federal Indian policy in the United States during the 19th century was marked by disagreement among all parties. The areas of disagreement that stood out most were (1) What is the legal/constitutional status of Indians and...

Americans first began the custom of weekday voting in 1845, when Congress passed a federal law designating the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November as Election Day in the hope of streamlining the voting process. But why a...

This interesting essay traces the growth of the Knights of Labor from a group that represented those in the shoe industry in Philadelphia to a nationwide union fighting for workers' rights. It also traces other union developments over...

This article and audio report [9:05] covers the origins of American cowboy folk songs. Uses popups. Also includes a brief video clip of a 19th century folk song being performed.

Learn about the fashions worn by the various social classes during the Victorian era. Includes information on popular styles and textiles, along with a collection of images.

Kellie Hanna writes on Mary Cassatt, who is known as an Impressionist.

This article by Morris Dickstein traces the history of American poetry, drama, fiction, and social and literary criticism from the early 17th century to the late 20th century. It includes a section for each century providing historical...

Learn nineteenth century American art and history in this multi-disciplinary analysis of various works of art from the period.

A description of Neoclassicism in Europe during the latter half of the 18th century. Explore the artwork of 13 artists and descriptive paragraphs.

Presidednt James Garfield was shot on July 2, 1881, and lingered until September 19, 1881. Read about how the medical community failed him, and follow his chief physician's recounting of how Garfield dealt with his pain.

This collection of five essays on the history of Wisconsin is not as short as its name might indicate. It spans from the prehistory times of First Peoples up to the present, highlighting key events and people, and supplemented by many...

Spiritualism's popularity waxed and waned throughout the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century, and surged on the heels of major wars and pandemics. While belief in an afterlife is a cornerstone of many ancient and...

If you don't know that the incandescent light was a failure before it was a success, it's easy to write off some modern energy innovations like solar panels because they haven't hit the big time fast enough. Worse, the fairy-tale view of...

Before Christopher Columbus came to America, the expansive territory was inhabited by Native Americans. Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, as more explorers sought to colonize their land, Native Americans responded in various...

A representation of the views of the factory owners who had become wealthy in mid 19th century England.