Herbst Library

United States History--Civil War Reader
Opponents and Defenders of the "Peculiar Institution"

[Essential Documents] [Constitutional Convention] [Hamilton-Jefferson Dialogues]
[The Missouri Crisis] [Abolitionism] [Abraham Lincoln]

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Civil War Resources

Selections from The Civil War Diary of Cornelia Peake McDonald

Essential Documents

The Declaration of Independence (1776) text: from Avalon Project

    		•  Additional Versions and Resources

    • The Articles of Confederation (1777) text from Avalon Project

    		•  Additional Versions and Resources

    • The Constitution (1787) the Constitution from American Memory of the Library of Congress with notes /annotations from the Weinstein?? version

    Additional Versions and Resources

    Amendments to the Constitution with notes/annotations from the Weinstein?? text

    Additional Versions and Resources

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    The Constitutional Convention (May-September 1787)

    The following sites are the source for the documents bulleted below:
    Documents of the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention: Collection of American Memory
    A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates 1774-1873: Collection of American Memory

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    Representatives at the Convention in the passages above

    Representative
    State
    Mr. Sherman Connecticut

    Mr. Madison

    		 Virginia
    Col. Mason Virginia
    Mr. Govr. Morris Pennsylvania
    Mr. Rutlidge South Carolina
    Gen Pinkney South Carolina
    Mr. Pinkney South Carolina
    Mr. Langdon New Hampshire
    Mr. King Massachusetts
    Mr. Williamson North Carolina
    Mr. Dickenson Delaware
    Mr. Elseworth Connecticut
    Mr. Gerry Massachusetts
    Mr. Wilson Pennsylvania
    Mr. Baldwin Georgia
    Mr. Dayton New Jersey
    Mr. Ghorum Massachusetts
    Mr. L. Martin Maryland
    Mr. Butler South Carolina
    Mr. Read Delaware
    Mr. Randolph Virginia

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    Hamilton-Jefferson Dialogue: The Bank Debate

    Alexander Hamliton (national ideology) and Thomas Jefferson (states rights ideology) on their respective political philosophies and on their respective positions on the Bank of the United States (1791) from American Spirit: United States History by Bailey

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    The Missouri Crisis (1819-1821)

    Congressman James Tallmadge of New York initiates the Missouri Controversy
    James Tallmadge, Jr., speaks against slavery in Missouri, February 16, 1819.

    When Missouri applied for statehood Congressman James Tallmadge, Jr., of New York proposed an amendment to the enabling act which would have prohibited "the further introduction of slavery" into Missouri, and which would have freed all all slaves born there at the age of twenty-five. His proposal elicited a short but fiery dispute, which Jefferson said, "like a fire bell in the night, awakened and filed me with terror." Ultimately an agreement was reached -- the Compromise of 1820 -- which settled the problem temporarily. The argument over slavery in Missouri, John Quincy Adams predicted with uncommon accuracy, was merely the "title page to a great tragic volume."
    • The Annals of Congress, 15th Congress, 2nd Session, November 16, 1818. Turn to image on page 1203; Text is on pages 1204-1206; 1211 Text of speech starts "Sir, the honorable gentleman from Missouri,..." ; skip pages 1208-1210, go to p. 1211 "Sir, on this subject the eyes of Europe are turned upon you...."

    Anonymous ("A Southron"): Against Reconstruction of Slavery to the Southern States / 23 December, 1819 from Richmond Enquirer, December 21, 1819

    Thomas Jefferson: A Fireball in the Night / 22 April 1820 Source: Randolph, IV, pp. 323-333. Annals of American History

    Map of the Missouri Compromise, 1820-1821, and Admission of States, 1791-1821

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    Abolitionism

    William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879) -- Collection of documents by Garrison

    Garrison Looks at the World: Park Street Church Address (4 July 1829) Address to the Colonization Society
    Opening Statement of the First Issue of the Liberator 1 January 1831 Exhibit from Africans in America

    To the Public January 1, 1831

    Editorial Regarding Walker's Appeal January 8, 1831

    Truisms January 8, 1831

    The American Anti-Slavery Society, Declaration of Sentiments (4 December 1833) (Argument for Immediate Emancipation) Declaration of Sentiments by William Lloyd Garrison (1833). Download copy of original pamphlet.

    University of Massachusetts Amherst collection of Anti-Slavery documents

    Nat Turner's (1800-1831) Rebellion and Confession (22-23 August 1831) from the Confessions of Nat Turner also text available from the PBS Africans in America website.

    William Lloyd Garrison (3 September 1831) Liberator Editorial Reaction to Nat Turner's Insurrection in Southampton, County: the Virginia Slave Revolt

    An Account to Render : Reverend Charles C. Jones of South Carolina reacts to the Turner Revolt in his pamphlet, "The Religious Instruction of the Negroes" http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/jones/jones.html

    William Lloyd Garrison on Colonization and Race Prejudice (1832) from Garrison Thoughts on African Colonization (Boston, 1832, pp. 134,141-47, 149-50. [Note: full text available with a Google account. Must sign in to search for pages and to read them.]

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    Abraham Lincoln

    Abraham Lincoln President of the United States (POTUS) background, links to documents from The Internet Public Library

    The Complete Writings of Abraham Lincoln (7 volumes) collected by Penn State and available as PDF's

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    Last updated 27 January 2007.

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