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This series includes accounts of historical events and movements by eye-witnesses and contemporaries, as well as landmark studies that assembled significant source materials or developed new historiographical methods. The works range from the writings of early U.S. presidents to journals of poor European settlers, from travellers' descriptions of bustling cities and vast landscapes to critiques of racial inequality and descriptions of Native American culture under threat of annihilation. The commercial, political and social aspirations and rivalries of the 'new world' are reflected in these fascinating eighteenth- and nineteenth-century publications.

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163 results in Cambridge Library Collection - North American History

Page 2 of 9

History of the United States of America (1801–1817)
  • During the Second Administration of Thomas Jefferson 1
  • Volume 3
  • Henry Adams
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    22 September 2011
    First published in:
    1891
  • Henry Adams (1838–1918), journalist, novelist, and historian, was the great-grandson of John Adams and grandson of John Quincy Adams, both presidents of the United States. A professor of medieval history at Harvard whose areas of research were wide-ranging, he was deeply interested in the evolution of democracy in the United States. While Adams is best remembered for his autobiography The Education of Henry Adams (1907), for which he was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer prize, his nine-volume history of the United States during the presidencies of Jefferson and Madison (1801–17), which was published 1889–91, has been hailed as one of the greatest historical works in English. Adams was an advocate of scientific history, and this monumental work adheres to its principles, considering social trends and circumstances rather than focusing on particular events. Volume 3 describes the second administration of Thomas Jefferson (1805–9).

History of the United States of America (1801–1817)
  • During the First Administration of Thomas Jefferson 1
  • Volume 1
  • Henry Adams
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    22 September 2011
    First published in:
    1891
  • Henry Adams (1838–1918), journalist, novelist, and historian, was the great-grandson of John Adams and grandson of John Quincy Adams, both presidents of the United States. A professor of medieval history at Harvard whose areas of research were wide-ranging, he was deeply interested in the evolution of democracy in the United States. While Adams is best remembered for his autobiography The Education of Henry Adams (1907), for which he was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer prize, his nine-volume history of the United States during the presidencies of Jefferson and Madison (1801–17), which was published 1889–91, has been hailed as one of the greatest historical works in English. Adams was an advocate of scientific history, and this monumental work adheres to its principles, considering social trends and circumstances rather than focusing on particular events. Volume 1 describes the first administration of Thomas Jefferson (1801–5).

History of the United States of America (1801–1817)
  • During the First Administration of James Madison 2
  • Volume 6
  • Henry Adams
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    22 September 2011
    First published in:
    1891
  • Henry Adams (1838–1918), journalist, novelist, and historian, was the great-grandson of John Adams and grandson of John Quincy Adams, both presidents of the United States. A professor of medieval history at Harvard whose areas of research were wide-ranging, he was deeply interested in the evolution of democracy in the United States. While Adams is best remembered for his autobiography The Education of Henry Adams (1907), for which he was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer prize, his nine-volume history of the United States during the presidencies of Jefferson and Madison (1801–17), which was published 1889–91, has been hailed as one of the greatest historical works in English. Adams was an advocate of scientific history, and this monumental work adheres to its principles, considering social trends and circumstances rather than focusing on particular events. Volume 6 continues the account of the first administration of James Madison (1809–13).

The Great Republic
  • Lepel Henry Griffin
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    02 June 2011
    First published in:
    1884
  • Sir Lepel Henry Griffin (1838–1908) was a British administrator and diplomat in the Indian Civil Service. Beginning in Lahore in 1860, his career in India spanned nearly thirty years until he resigned in 1889 and began a new life in commerce and finance. In 1884 Griffin published The Great Republic, a stinging critique of the United States. Consisting partly of articles which had already appeared in the Fortnightly Review, Griffin's book was intended to warn Englishmen, particularly Liberals, of 'the political methods of America which strike me as thoroughly bad and corrupt'. His chief accusation was that the American political system had put power into the hands of the uneducated masses. He also condemned Americans' love of materialism, their 'philistinism', and the anti-English sentiment which he had encountered during his three-week stay there. Controversial in its day, his book is a fascinating document in the history of Anglo-American relations.

Three Visits to America
  • Emily Faithfull
  • Published online:
    25 October 2011
    Print publication:
    14 July 2011
    First published in:
    1884
  • The Victorian printer Emily Faithfull (1835–95) published Three Visits in 1884. The work is an account of her American lecture tours that took place in 1872–3, 1882–3 and 1884. Faithfull, a controversial and independently minded figure, campaigned for the employment and education rights of women. In 1860, Faithfull set up a printing establishment for women, the Victoria Press, where, despite fierce resistance from the printing trade, she employed and trained women as compositors. In 1862, she was made Printer and Publisher in Ordinary to Queen Victoria. Faithfull, a talented speaker, lectured widely on how America was dealing with the changing position of women, and the campaign for women's employment rights. This account remains a key source for the history of liberal feminism and the emancipation of nineteenth-century women.

Portraits of Places
  • Henry James
  • Published online:
    29 August 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1883
  • Written by Henry James, Portraits of Places is a record of the author's reminiscences of his travels in Italy, France, and England during 1876–1882. Beginning in Venice, James takes the reader on a journey through Italy to France (Paris, Rheims, Normandy and the Pyrenees) and England (London, Warwickshire). His finely crafted word-portraits vividly evoke the less-frequented monuments of Europe, the abbeys and castles, events and festivals, and the scenic beauty of London at different times of the year. Also included are sketches of four scenic locales in North America: Saratoga, Newport, Quebec, and Niagara. Portraits of Places is a vintage work by a famous literary figure that memorably captures scenes of cultural and historical beauty on both sides of the Atlantic, as observed by an American traveller over a period of six years.

A Century of Dishonour
  • A Sketch of the United States Government's Dealings with Some of the North American Tribes
  • Helen Hunt Jackson
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    22 May 2014
    First published in:
    1881
  • Author and activist Helen Hunt Jackson (1830–85) is remembered for her work in support of Native American rights. She was also a friend and correspondent of the poet Emily Dickinson, and her own verse was praised by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Her highly popular novel Ramona (1884) addressed discrimination against Native Americans, raising public consciousness as Harriet Beecher Stowe had done for slavery in Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852). Jackson's novel emerged out of her passionate seeking of justice for her country's indigenous peoples. She describes decades of government-sanctioned mistreatment of Native Americans in this 1881 publication. The work introduces seven major tribes, their claims to ancestral lands, and the history of broken treaties and massacres they had endured. Alongside this, Jackson also presents details of Native American culture, resilience and creativity. This remains a vital and substantial account of minority persecution in North American history.

The Treaties of Canada with the Indians of Manitoba and the North-West Territories
  • Including the Negotiations on Which They Are Based, and Other Information Relating Thereto
  • Alexander Morris
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    23 January 2014
    First published in:
    1880
  • Alexander Morris (1826–89) served as lieutenant-governor of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories, not long after Canada purchased the latter from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1869. This colossal land transfer was a source of unrest for the indigenous peoples, who were displeased about the arrival of missionaries and other settlers. Morris was involved in negotiating treaties over issues such as land rights, publishing this account in 1880. He provides some historical context to the many negotiations in which he participated as well as some of his thoughts on how the agreements could best be implemented. The work, which also includes the full texts of these treaties, remains a valuable source on the history of the relationship between Europeans and indigenous peoples during the settlement of the outer reaches of Canada.

A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains
  • Isabella L. Bird
  • Published online:
    29 August 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1879
  • After the success of The Englishwoman in America (also reissued in this series), the indefatigable Isabella Bird (1831–1904) continued her travels – first to Scotland, then to Australia and Hawaii – before returning to the United States and taking up residence in what was then the newest state, Colorado. Her adventures here – recorded as letters to her sister which she artlessly tells the reader were never intended for publication – included riding alone across the prairie, trying to help a family dying of cholera in the face of indifference from the local inhabitants, a sight of the invalids who were coming to Denver in huge numbers to be cured by the mountain air, and an encounter (if it was nothing more) with that western archetype, the one-eyed, romantic, courteous, poetry-declaiming outlaw, who by the following year was 'in a dishonoured grave, with a rifle bullet in his brain'.

The Oregon Trail
  • Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life
  • Francis Parkman
  • Published online:
    05 January 2012
    Print publication:
    22 September 2011
    First published in:
    1878
  • The American historian Francis Parkman (1823–93) published extensively on colonial North America, focusing particularly on the territorial rivalry between France and England. This famous travel diary was written early in his career and originally published in instalments in Knickerbocker's Magazine (1847–9) before appearing in book form in 1849. It enjoyed great popularity, and the 1878 sixth edition, reissued here, was fully revised by the author. The book describes Parkman's two-month journey in summer 1846 along the eastern part of the heavily-used emigrant route, from St Louis to the Rockies and back via Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming and Kansas. It focuses particularly on a three-week hunting expedition during which Parkman lived with the Oglala Sioux. Parkman's elegant style and colourful descriptions read like an adventure novel, but the book is also a witness to the prejudices of its time about nationality and race, particularly with regard to Native Americans.

Memoirs of an American Lady
  • With Sketches of Manners and Scenes in America, as They Existed Previous to the Revolution
  • Anne MacVicar Grant
  • Edited by James Grant Wilson
  • Published online:
    05 April 2012
    Print publication:
    22 September 2011
    First published in:
    1876
  • Originally published in 1808, this work had long been out of print before being revived in this 1876 edition, which is enhanced by a biography of the author by her godson. A poet, letter-writer and essayist, Anne Grant (1755–1838) lived in America between the ages of three and thirteen, after which her family returned to Scotland. Described by the author as a 'miscellany of description, observation and detail', the book paints a charming picture of New York life in the idyllic world of pre-revolutionary America. Grant blends memories of her childhood in Albany with biographical details of her friend Madame Schuyler, of whom she wrote 'whatever culture my mind received, I owe to her'. Greatly admired by Scott and Southey, the book provides sketches of New York life alongside anecdotes of the Indians. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/protected/svPeople?formname=r&person_id=granan

The Life of Benjamin Franklin, Written by Himself
  • Volume 3
  • Benjamin Franklin
  • Edited by John Bigelow
  • Published online:
    05 November 2011
    Print publication:
    29 September 2011
    First published in:
    1874
  • Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) is best known as an American revolutionary politician, but he also excelled as a printer, journalist and natural philosopher despite having little formal education. As a statesman, he was the only person to sign all three major documents of American statehood: the Declaration of Independence, the peace treaty with Britain, and the United States constitution. This three-volume set, first published in 1874, was compiled from Franklin's autobiography (covering the period up to 1857) and autobiographical passages from correspondence and other writings. Using Franklin's own words, it tells his remarkable story, which is integral to the political history of America. Franklin's account of self-discipline and motivation remains one of the most popular autobiographies of all time. Volume 3 of Franklin's Life covers the negotiation for peace with Great Britain, the drafting of the United States constitution, and his retirement from public life, and also contains his will.

The Life of Benjamin Franklin, Written by Himself
  • Volume 1
  • Benjamin Franklin
  • Edited by John Bigelow
  • Published online:
    05 November 2011
    Print publication:
    29 September 2011
    First published in:
    1874
  • Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) is best known as an American revolutionary politician, but he also excelled as a printer, journalist and natural philosopher despite having little formal education. As a statesman, he was the only person to sign all three major documents of American statehood: the Declaration of Independence, the peace treaty with Britain, and the United States constitution. This three-volume set, first published in 1874, was compiled from Franklin's autobiography (covering the period up to 1857) and autobiographical passages from correspondence and other writings. Using Franklin's own words, it tells his remarkable story, which is integral to the political history of America. Franklin's account of self-discipline and motivation remains one of the most popular autobiographies of all time. Volume 1 of Franklin's Life contains his original autobiography, and also describes his experiments with lightning conductors, his opposition to the Stamp Act, and his examination before the House of Commons.

Threading my Way
  • Twenty-Seven Years of Autobiography
  • Robert Dale Owen
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    02 August 2012
    First published in:
    1874
  • Robert Dale Owen (1801–77) was a social reformer and politician who emigrated to the United States in 1825. He was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1842, and appointed US Minister at Naples in 1853. He was the author of political pamphlets, as well as books inspired by spiritualism, such as Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World (1860; also reissued in this series). First published in 1874, this autobiography focuses on Owen's early life, beginning with the history of his family before his birth. As well as Owen's childhood in New Lanark, it documents the beginnings of the experimental community set up by Robert Owen, the author's father, in New Harmony, Indiana. Owen, who emigrated to the United States to help his father in this project, tells of his own experience of communal life, and sheds light on an early example of Utopian socialism.

The Life of Benjamin Franklin, Written by Himself
  • Volume 2
  • Benjamin Franklin
  • Edited by John Bigelow
  • Published online:
    05 November 2011
    Print publication:
    29 September 2011
    First published in:
    1874
  • Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) is best known as an American revolutionary politician, but he also excelled as a printer, journalist and natural philosopher despite having little formal education. As a statesman, he was the only person to sign all three major documents of American statehood: the Declaration of Independence, the peace treaty with Britain, and the United States constitution. This three-volume set, first published in 1874, was compiled from Franklin's autobiography (covering the period up to 1857) and autobiographical passages from correspondence and other writings. Using Franklin's own words, it tells his remarkable story, which is integral to the political history of America. Franklin's account of self-discipline and motivation remains one of the most popular autobiographies of all time. Volume 2 of Franklin's Life describes his election as President of the American Philosophical Society and his involvement in drafting the Declaration of Independence and the Treaty of Alliance with France.

Greater Britain
  • Volume 2
  • Charles Wentworth Dilke
  • Published online:
    29 August 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1868
  • As a young man, Charles Wentworth Dilke (1843–1911), the Cambridge-educated Radical politician, spent two years touring the English-speaking world. This two-volume illustrated account of his travels was published in 1868, the year in which he first became a member of Parliament. Volume 2 opens as he leaves America in late 1866 for Australia and South Asia in search of British influences. This second leg of his journey confirmed for Dilke that England not only existed elsewhere beyond Great Britain, but that it spoke to the whole world through its cultural and societal offshoots across the entire globe. His discoveries of traditional English customs and lifestyles in the farther reaches of Australia, India and even Russia are recounted with pleasure and surprise. The book sheds light on British colonial culture at the height of the empire, through the eyes of a youthful, left-wing observer.

Greater Britain
  • Volume 1
  • Charles Wentworth Dilke
  • Published online:
    05 July 2011
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1868
  • As a young man, Charles Wentworth Dilke (1843–1911), the Cambridge-educated Radical politician who went on to campaign for votes for women and labourers, legalisation of trade unions, and universal schooling, spent two years touring the English-speaking world. This two-volume illustrated account of his journey was published in 1868, the year in which he first entered Parliament. Volume 1 describes his travels across the United States, where he arrived aboard The Saratoga, landing at Chesapeake Bay in Virginia on 20 June 1866. Dilke explored the reconstructing American South, the bustling eastern seaboard, the vast plains of the Midwest, the magnificent Rocky Mountain range, and the diverse landscape and peoples of California before venturing south into Mexico and departing for Polynesia and the Pacific islands. He thoughtfully discusses the legacy of British colonial culture in America, and its continuing diffusion via America to other parts of the world.

Black and White
  • A Journal of a Three Months' Tour in the United States
  • Henry Latham
  • Published online:
    29 August 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1867
  • The British barrister Henry Latham's thoughtful letters, describing three months he spent in the United States, were published in 1867. His intention in recording the details of his travels was to encourage other Englishmen and women to visit their American cousins and make their own judgements as to their true manner and spirit. He expressed the hope that greater social contact would foster better understanding between the two nations. Latham remarked that Americans of that period were far more hospitable and hearty than the English, and observed that there existed in the land of freedom a highly motivating suspicion that contentment was a spurious kind of virtue invented by the English aristocracy. To his accounts of cities from Niagara and New York to Atlanta and New Orleans, Latham added supplementary chapters reflecting on the chances of survival for Black and indigenous Americans.

A Hunter's Experiences in the Southern States of America
  • Captain Flack
  • Published online:
    29 August 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1866
  • Captain Flack, known for his columns in The Field, published this record of the his experiences of hunting, shooting and fishing in the Southern states of America in 1866. Starting with an introduction about the wilderness of the American forests and life in the western prairies, the book goes on to record the natural history of mammals and game-birds in the South. It provides graphic descriptions of the author's encounters with wildlife including antelopes, bison, bears, wild turkeys, fish, alligators and snakes, as well as bee hunting. Flack describes the South as the paradise of the true sportsman. In an appendix, the author provides a guide to the locations where each kind of game may be found, together with information about routes and costs. This detailed and entertaining account provides fascinating insights into Victorian social history and valuable data on the ecology of the Southern states at that time.

Three Years Among the Working-Classes in the United States during the War
  • James Dawson Burn
  • Published online:
    29 August 2010
    Print publication:
    13 August 2009
    First published in:
    1865
  • James Dawson Burn's 1865 book endeavours to give a true account of the industrial, social, moral and political state of the working class in America, and is addressed partly to intending emigrants. His study examines the people themselves, as well as the circumstances that influenced their conduct during the Civil War, and draws comparisons between their condition and that of the working class in Europe. Burns, writing from the perspective of an English visitor to the United States, remarks that upon seeing the visible social comfort there, he came to believe that lower-class Americans of the period were far in advance of their peers in his own country. Given that American rights and liberties provided such a strong inducement for the labouring population of Europe to flock to its shores, Burns intended his research to serve as a guide for what they could and could not expect.

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