Maturation of US Culture
See Main Page for a guide
to all contents of all sections.
Contents
The Maturation of
American Culture
-
WEB Secession Era Editorials Project [At Furman]
Many online texts, with a a special emphasis on the Civil War and Southern History. Many
texts are taken from newspaper editorials.
- WEB Making
of America [At Michigan]
5000 imprints from 1850-75 on line, but as image files rather than text.
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The Legal Framework of
American Life
- WEB US
Supreme Court Decisions [At Yahoo]
-
Ex parte Milligan,
1866 [At USInfo]
The Supreme court insists on the rights of individuals, even during war.
-
Morrill Act, 1862
[At USInfo]
Allowed western states to establish land grant college.
-
Bradwell v. Illinois,
1873 [At USInfo]
The supreme court agreed that women could be banned from the bar.
-
Pendleton Act,
1883 [At USInfo]
Regulated the neutrality of the civil service.
-
Muller v. Oregon,
1908 [At USInfo]
Allowed states to create worker protection laws
-
Plessy v. Ferguson,
1896 [At USInfo]
Established the legal basis for American apartheid in the South.
-
Yick Wo v. Hopkins,
1886 [At USInfo]
Yick Wo v. Hopkins is the first instance of the Court inferring the existence of
discrimination from data about a law's application, a technique that would be used again
in the 1960s to strike down statutes discriminating against African Americans.
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The Gilded Age
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The Emergence of Modern
Politics
-
Dorothea Lynde Dix (1802-1887): Memorial to the
Massachusetts Legislature, 1843 [At USInfo]
On social reform of prisons and facilities for the mentally ill.
-
Horace Mann (1796-1859): Report No. 12 of the
Massachusetts School Board, 1848 [At USInfo]
-
People's Party
Platform, 1896 [At USInfo]
Radical rural/farmers' party. The roots of American "populism"..
-
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919, Pres., 1901-1909): The New Nationalism,
1910 [At USInfo]
The famous speech at Ossowatomie, Kansas, on August 31, 1910, which contains the kernel of
the "Progressive" ideas which would lead to the modern American welfare state.
So a speech outlining modern Aamerican "liberalism" by a Republican.
-
Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924, pres. 1913-1921): First Inaugural, 1913
[At USInfo]
Wilson's vision, in contrast to Roosevelt's, is of a small-unit economy presided over by a
government of limited powers. In other words, a speech echoing major themese in modern
American conservatism by a Democratic president.
- Theodore Roosevelt: Political
Assessments in the Coming Campaign, The Atlantic Monthly, July 1892 [At The
Atlantic, subscription required]
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American Thought
- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882): Concord
Hymn, July 4, 1837 [At U Oklahoma]
-
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882): Self-Reliance, 1841 [At
USInfo]
-
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) The
Transcendentalist, 1842 [At Emerson Central]
-
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882): The
Young American, 1844 [At Emerson Central]
-
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882): Nature;
adresses, and lectures [At Emerson Central]
- William Ellery Channing (1780-1842): On The Elevation
of The Laboring Classes, 1840 [At this Site]
-
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862): Civil Disobedience,
1846 [At USInfo] Very long selections.
-
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862): Slavery
in Massachusetts, 1854 [At eserver][Full Text]
- James Russell Lowell (1819-1891): On Democracy,
1868 [At this Site]
- Mark Twain: An American's View of Europe from Innocents
Abroad,1869, [At this Site]
- William Graham Sumner (1840-1910): The Challenge of Facts,
pub. 1914 [At this Site]
A prominent American social Darwinist mixes social Darwinism with aspects of a Calvinistic
work ethic, provides Darwinist explantion of the family, and attacks Socialism.
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American Literature
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NOTES: Dates of accession of material added since July 1998 can be seen in the New Additions page.. The date of inception
was 9/22/1997. Links to files at other site are indicated by [At some indication of the site
name or location]. Locally available texts are marked by [At this Site]. WEB indicates a link to one of small
number of high quality web sites which provide either more texts or an especially valuable
overview.
The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is located at the History Department of Fordham University, New York. The Internet
Medieval Sourcebook, and other medieval components of the project, are located at
the Fordham University Center
for Medieval Studies.The IHSP recognizes the contribution of Fordham University, the
Fordham University History Department, and the Fordham Center for Medieval Studies in
providing web space and server support for the project. The IHSP is a project independent of Fordham University. Although the IHSP seeks to follow all applicable copyright law, Fordham University is not
the institutional owner, and is not liable as the result of any legal action.
© Site Concept and Design: Paul Halsall created 26 Jan 1996: latest revision 26 January 2023 [CV]
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