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The Middle Passage, 1749

A primary source by Robert Livingston Jr.

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Resource type:

Primary Source

Primary Sub Era:

The Origins of Slavery

Year of Resource:

1749

Creator:

Robert Livingston Jr.

Historians estimate that approximately 472,000 Africans were kidnapped and brought to the North American mainland between 1619 and 1860. Of these, nearly 18 percent died during the transatlantic voyage from Africa to the New World. Known as the “middle passage,” this sea voyage could range from one to six months, depending on the weather. On large ships, several hundred slaves could be packed below decks. Branded and chained together, they endured conditions of squalor, and disease and starvation claimed many lives.

Inline body image(s):

“Decks of a Slave Ship” from The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade, Ancient

Robert Livingston to Petrus Dewitt, July 29, 1749. (The Gilder Lehrman Institute

“An Account of what Slaves Died on the Cost and upon The Passedge From guine to

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Reports on the yellow fever epidemic, 1793

A primary source by an unknown correspondent

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Resource type:

Primary Source

Primary Sub Era:

The Early Republic

Year of Resource:

1793

Creator:

an unknown correspondent

Synopsis:

Due to the yellow fever epidemic of 1793, the federal government left the US capital of Philadelphia. Secretary of War Henry Knox received this report on the progress of the epidemic from his staff in Montgomery County.

Between August 1 and November 9, 1793, approximately 11,000 people contracted yellow fever in the US capital of Philadelphia. Of that number, 5,000 people, 10 percent of the city’s population, died. The disease gets its name from the jaundiced eyes and skin of the victims. Other symptoms include fever, headache, and “black vomit” caused by bleeding into the stomach. At the time, it was thought that yellow fever was caused by rotting vegetable matter, and it was believed to be contagious; the disease is actually spread by mosquitos.

Inline body image(s):

Account of the yellow fever outbreak in Philadelphia, October 11–14, 1793

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Energy conservation during WWII, 1943

A primary source by the Government Printing Office

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Resource type:

Primary Source

Primary Sub Era:

World War II

Year of Resource:

1943

Creator:

the Government Printing Office

Synopsis:

This WWII poster, “Fuel Fights! SAVE YOUR SHARE,” urges Americans to practice energy conservation at home and lists ways to reduce heating costs.

Inline body image(s):

US Government Printing Office, “Fuel Fights! SAVE YOUR SHARE,” 1943 (GLC09520.12

US Government Printing Office, “Fuel Fights! SAVE YOUR SHARE,” 1943 (Gilder Lehr

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Verses on Norwegian emigration to America, 1853

A primary source by Thorvald A. Hansen

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Resource type:

Primary Source

Primary Sub Era:

Immigration and Migration

Year of Resource:

1853

Creator:

Thorvald A. Hansen

Synopsis:

This anonymous poem, “A Farewell Ode to Emigrants on Their Journey to America,” written in 1853 from the perspective of someone who stayed in Norway, illuminates the reasons some left Norway and praises the wonders of America.

Inline body image(s):

“[A Farewell Ode to Emigrants on Their Journey to America],” Hamar, Norway, 1853

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The struggle for married women’s rights, circa 1880s

A primary source by Anne Brown Adams

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Resource type:

Primary Source

Primary Theme:

Women's History

Year of Resource:

1880

Creator:

Anne Brown Adams

Synopsis:

In the late nineteenth century, Anne Brown Adams, a daughter of the abolitionist John Brown, lamented that the “struggle for a married woman’s rights will be a longer and a harder fought battle than any other that the world has ever known.”

In the early nineteenth century, married women in the US were legally subordinate to their husbands.

Inline body image(s):

Anne Brown Adams to Alexander Ross,circa 1880s (GLC03007.53)

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The Brotherton Indians of New Jersey, 1780

A primary source by Bartholomew Calvin et al.

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Resource type:

Primary Source

Primary Theme:

American Indian History

Year of Resource:

1780

Creator:

Bartholomew Calvin et al.

Synopsis:

The Lenni-Lenapes living on the Brotherton reservation in New Jersey agree to stop selling or leasing land to white settlers.

Inline body image(s):

The Brotherton Indians’ agreement to oppose white settlement, January 6, 1780.

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Recalling the Schoolchildren’s Blizzard of 1888, ca. 1930s

A primary source by O. W. Meier

Resource type:

Primary Source

Primary Sub Era:

Development of the West

Year of Resource:

1888

Creator:

O. W. Meier

Synopsis:

O. W. Meier recalls the journey home from his school in Nebraska with his two younger brothers during the Schoolchildren’s Blizzard of 1888.

Inline body image(s):

Transcript of “O. W. Meier Relates Experience He Had in the Blizzard of 1888”

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The Battle of Horseshoe Bend and the end of the Creek War, 1814

A primary source by Isaac Stephens

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Resource type:

Primary Source

Primary Sub Era:

The Age of Jefferson and Madison

Year of Resource:

1814

Creator:

Isaac Stephens

Synopsis:

On May 12, 1814, Tennessee settler Isaac Stephens wrote to his uncle Henry Mackey in Virginia about the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in Alabama. In that battle on March 27, 1814, US Army and Tennessee militia troops under General Andrew Jackson defeated 1000 warriors from the Creek confederation, ending the Creek War of 1812–1814.

On May 12, 1814, Tennessee settler Isaac Stephens wrote to his uncle Henry Mackey in Vir

Inline body image(s):

“A Correct View of the Battle of the Horse-Shoe, March 27th, 1814” (GLC06772)

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Civilian defense on the home front, 1942

A primary source by The Office of Civilian Defense

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Resource type:

Primary Source

Primary Sub Era:

World War II

Year of Resource:

1942

Creator:

The Office of Civilian Defense

Synopsis:

The insignia in the poster featured here, published in 1942, illustrate the numerous jobs assigned to civilian volunteers.

Inline body image(s):

“Official Civilian Defense Insignia, United States Citizens Defense Corps,” US O

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