Library of Congress
Loc: Mexican American Migrations and Communities [Pdf]
A collection of primary source documents which depict experiences of Mexican Americans in the 19th and 20th centuries. Find out what challenges they faced, what communities, institutions, and culture they created, and what records and...
History Teacher
Historyteacher.net: Intellectual/social/cultural Movements: 1870s 1914: Quiz (1)
10-question multiple choice quiz is immediately scored and exams your expertise in the intellectual, cultural, and social movements of the late 19th century.
Digital History
Digital History: The Birth of American Popular Culture
American popular culture was many-faceted prior to the Civil War. Find out about the explosion of the number of newspapers and magazines, the many kinds of popular entertainment, and even phrenology as entertainment.
Library of Congress
Loc: Home Sweet Home Life in 19th Century Ohio
This site uses historically significant documents to paint a picture of family life in 19th century Ohio. Music plays a large role in this picture.
Digital History
Digital History: The Birth of American Popular Culture
A description of many different forms of popular culture in the first half of the 19th century ranging from sensationalized newspapers to dime novels to pseudoscience. Read about Stephen Foster's music, theatrical productions, and even...
Wisconsin Historical Society
Turning Points in Wisconsin History: Effigy Mounds Culture
A good description of the life of the Woodland Moundbuilding culture in what is now Wisconsin. Learn about the effigy mounds built by these Native Americans, and access primary source manuscripts of writers trying to figure out these...
Oklahoma State University
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture: All Black Towns
Read about the all-black towns that were settled in Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory in the mid-19th century.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: The Journey of the Jewish Americans
This video segment from The Jewish Americans shows how in the 19th century Jews and other groups were sometimes not welcomed when they immigrated to the United States. In addidtion to the video are teaching tips and follow-up questions,...
Library of Congress
Loc: American Memory: African American Odyssey
The Library of Congress' Digital Library presents an outstanding lesson that links to collections about the quest for full citizenship, Frederick Douglass papers, slave narratives, and more.
University of Virginia
Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture: The Woman's Rights Movement
Read about the 19th century women's reform movement as well as primary resources including the Seneca Falls Declaration & Resolutions, an editorial by Frederick Douglass, and excerpts form "History of Woman Suffrage."
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian American Art Museum: Letters From Frontier: Primary Documents
George Catlin made extensive observations on the various native peoples that he encountered on his travels in the West. He recorded his experiences in letters and notes. These documents provide us with critical information on the culture...
PBS
Pbs: Broadway: The American Musical: Operetta
As part of a larger look at the American musical, this brief look at the popularity of the operetta in the last part of the 19th century discusses why it was so popular with the middle class. Included is a short video that discusses...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Cult of Domesticity: Fanny Fern: Fern Leaves From Fanny's Portfolio
Short periodical pieces that examine the complex and challenging roles that women found thrust upon them in mid-nineteenth century American culture. Discussion questions are provided.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: America's History in the Making: Antebellum Reform
Nineteenth century United States saw the creation of reform movements: temperance, abolition, school and prison reform, as well as others. This unit traces the emergence of reform movements instigated by the Second Great Awakening and...
Harp Week
Harp Week: Immigrant and Ethnic America
Website with detailed information from Harpers Weekly on various immigrant and ethnic groups that were a vital part of American culture during the second half of the 19th century. Page features the Chinese-American experience, 1857-1892.
Other
19th Century Forts: Texas Frontier Clash of Cultures
Scattered across Texas are the remnants of a fierce defense system - forts. This site talks about the fort system as a whole. There are detailed links to information about specific forts in the state. An interactive student activity...
PBS
Frontier House: The Extermination of the American Buffalo
The reign of the buffalo across the plains ended in great slaughter by the end of the 19th century. This companion essay to the PBS series, Frontier House, recounts how the decimation of the buffalo occurred, hastened by both white and...
Library of Congress
Loc: American Memory: Touring Turn of the Century America
This collection contains thousands of photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company and gives viewers the opportunity to explore America from the period of 1880 to 1920. Images include rural America, city life, men and women at work,...
NPR: National Public Radio
Npr: Who Were the Cowboys Behind 'Cowboy Songs'?
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.
Other
Nlbpa: Negro Leagues Baseball History
Find out about the history of early Negro baseball beginnings in the late 19th century before reading about the advent of the Negro National League in the 1920s. Baseball was the American pastime for everyone in the 1920s and 1930s.
Other
Unstrung History of American Guitar: The Guitar and the Birth of American Music
The guitar in America began as an instrument used in popular music in the city and then branched out to minstrel shows, ragtime, and even jazz. Read about the history of this ubiquitous instrument and how it took on its American character.
Library of Congress
Loc: The Modern Dances and How to Dance Them: The Castle Walk
This resource describes the history of a dance callled the Castle Walk, which was popular in the early 1900's. Includes information on the orgins of the dance, as well as text and images from a dance manual of the period.
Art Cyclopedia
Artcyclopedia: Chronological Listing of Silversmiths
ArtCyclopedia's complete list of silversmiths from the 18th and 19th centuries. There are links to the artists' biography and works.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: New Attitutdes Toward Wealth
The accumulation of wealth went beyond inheritance in the late 19th century. Read about three different ideas for the ordinary person to become wealthy.