Last Best Hope of Earth

Tag: Antebellum

  • The Work Divide

    john_caspar_wild_-_cincinnati_from_behind_newport_barracks_-_google_art_project
    Painting of Cincinnati, Ohio from Newport, Kentucky. By: John Caspar Wild.

    The North and the South had come to develop two distinct cultures by the mid-1800s. One of those fundamental differences was the nature of work.

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  • Tipping the Balance of Sectionalism

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    Fort Snelling in the Upper Mississippi Valley. By: John Caspar Wild.

    By 1848, America had numerous sectional differences, and those sectional differences were beginning to take on a different character.

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  • The Balance of Sectionalism

    john_caspar_wild_-_fourth_street_east_from_vine_-_google_art_project
    Fourth Street East from Vine Street in Cincinnati, Ohio. Circa 1835. By: John Caspar Wild.

    From the inception of America in 1776 to the mid-1800s, there was a balance between regions of the country. That dramatically changed throughout the 1840s and 1850s.

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  • The American Spirit of the 1840s

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    The Van Rensselaer Manor House. By: Thomas Cole.

    Through the early 1800s and well into the 1840s, Americans had developed a sense of unity and pride about their country.

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  • The Country of the Future

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    Home in the Woods. By: Thomas Cole.

    By 1848, America had undergone a significant transformation from the America that the Founding Fathers left just a few decades before.

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  • Election of 1848: Whig Victory

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    The White House in 1848. Credit: Library of Congress.

    On November 7, 1848, Americans went to the polls to choose between Martin Van Buren, Zachary Taylor, and Lewis Cass.

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  • Election of 1848: The Barnburners

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    A Political Cartoon Regarding the Barnburners.

    Approaching the Election of 1848, President James Polk did not have unanimous support amongst Democrats. In fact, quite the opposite.

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  • Election of 1848: The Candidates

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    The Whig Ticket for President, Zachary Taylor, and Vice President, Millard Fillmore.

    The Election of 1848 was bound to be unique, as President James Polk had made clear that he would serve only one term as president. With that, the Whigs and the Democrats had to put forth candidates that could meet the parties’ respective goals of reversing President Polk’s policies (the Whigs) and expanding on President Polk’s policies (the Democrats).

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  • The Mass Immigration of the 1840s

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    Photograph of the Five Points Neighborhood of New York City. Photographer Unknown.

    In the mid-1840s, the last major famine in European history would take place in Ireland. This famine would have significant ramifications for America, as it would lead to a massive wave of immigrants.

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  • The Gold Rush of 1849

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    Gold Miners During the California Gold Rush. Photographer Unknown.

    On January 24, 1848, James Marshall and Johann Sutter made a discovery that would transform the territory of California and bring about pandemonium in American society. The specks of gold that they discovered, while they may have hoped to keep secret, were anything but a secret.

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