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For this informal assignment, I want you to immerse yourself in a rich, but largely under-studied resource: the lost world of the pre-Civil War newspaper.
The Library of Congress has begun a massive project entitled Chronicling AmericaLinks to an external site. to make available to the public the text of thousands of local newspapers from across the United States. Many of these newspapers no longer exist except online, as the originals have crumbled or been destroyed.
The newspaper business was booming prior to the Civil War.
For this project, I want you to choose a topic which we have been studying in the course, and locate, through the Chronicling America site, three or more newspaper pieces that illuminate some aspect of that topic. Then, in a 400-600 word reflection, I want you to summarize and analyze what you have found. You do not need to write a finished, polished essay, but instead you merely need to write a report.
For instance, if you were to choose the broad topic of the experience of Native Americans, you could find articles, from one or various newspapers in the Chronicling America site, which either report on or discuss events that relate to that experience. You could (and probably should) narrow your topic as well, to look at, for instance, a specific event such as the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin or the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and only examine articles that cover that particular event. How you approach the assignment is really up to you, and you could make your focus as broad or narrow as you wish.
You could look at the same event through three different newspapers from different areas of the country; three articles from the same newspaper (justify why this particular newspaper is important); three different events from the same newspaper — really, however you want to complete the general assignment is up to you.
The main function of the assignment is to encourage you to research and discover, and use (and wrestle with) the Advanced Search function of the Chronicling America site.
Remember that you need to narrow your search to events in U.S. history that occurred prior to 1865. Because few newspapers survive the further back you go, choosing a topic closer to the end of the course than the beginning is probably a good idea.
You will be graded on whether you complete the assignment, and how much effort you put into summarizing and analyzing your findings. You will also be graded on how deeply you interface with the Chronicling America search engineLinks to an external site.. Don’t just plug your topic into the search box. Try to narrow your focus to a particular region, a particular newspaper, a particular date. Use the “Advanced Search” functionLinks to an external site.. Go down the research rabbit hole for a while and be overwhelmed. A large part of this assignment is learning to navigate a relatively complex primary source research engine.
No outside sources are necessary, but they are always appreciated.
Have fun digging and discovering.
Here are the topics from the course:
1. British North America
2. Colliding Cultures
3. The New World
4. Colonial Society
5. The American Revolution
6. The Early Republic
7. Democracy in America
8. The Cotton Revolution
9. The Civil War
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