National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Mark Twain, Triumph of Nationalism: America, 1815 1850
Two chapters from Huckleberry Finn that offer portraits of "ordinary folks" during the Jacksonian era.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: James F. Cooper: Triumph of Nationalism: America, 1815 1850
Essays written during the Age of the Common Man from James F. Cooper that question how much democracy can be relied upon as an effective political system. Primary source material and questions for discussion.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Walt Whitman, Triumph of Nationalism: America, 1815 1850
Whitman's poem celebrating the integrity and industry of the masses within a democratic culture.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: De Tocqueville, Triumph of Nationalism: America, 1815 1850
Three essays from the famous French visitor to America, Alexis de Tocqueville, in which he examines how religion in early nineteenth century America supported democratic tendencies.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Expansion: Triumph of Nationalism: America, 1815 1850
A collection of eight primary resources--historical documents, literary texts, visual images, maps--illuminated and contextualized by notes, thematic questions, and text-specific discussion questions for classroom instruction and teacher...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Charles Sellers: Triumph of Nationalism: America, 1815 1850
A secondary account from a contemporary historian that examines early nineteenth century forces and the interplay of markets and territorial expansion.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Hezekiah Niles: Triumph of Nationalism: America, 1815 1850
Magazine excerpts that celebrate the government sponsored internal improvements of the early nineteenth century and the market economy that they fueled.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Lewis Cass: Triumph of Nationalism: America, 1815 1850
An argument by the Michigan Territorial governor, Lewis Cass, that claimed state laws superseded the rights claimed by Native American tribes like the Cherokee.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Henry David Thoreau, Excerpts From "Economy," Ch. 1 of Walden, 1854
A chapter from Walden that critiques and challenges the new market economy of the nineteenth century.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Henry David Thoreau: Civil Disobedience: 1848
Thoreau's essay that calls for citizens to break unjust laws, particularly those promoting the continuation and expansion of slavery.