NewsInHistory Blog

On May 13, 1846, Congress declared war on Mexico, beginning the two-year Mexican-American War. The spark for this conflict began 18 days earlier, with a skirmish on April 25 called “the Thornton Affair.” From the Mexican perspective, the war was purely an act of American aggression, flimsily based on a pretext that Mexico began the hostilities. The United States claimed that Mexico was the aggressor. Which nation is responsible for provoking the war’s bloodshed is disputed to this day. read more...

The Pony Express is an enduring part of the lore of the Wild West: daring riders braving vast stretches of wilderness, hostile Indians, and rough weather to carry the mail that connected the East Coast with the West. The dazzling promise made, and kept, by the Pony Express was to deliver mail between St. Joseph, Missouri, and San Francisco, California, covering the 1,900 miles in ten days. Railroads carried the mail between the East Coast and St. Joseph to complete the delivery route. read more...

When Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, it seemed the nation’s long nightmare was at last coming to an end. It was clear to everyone that the Civil War would be over soon, and the time for healing could begin. The country was not alone in needing recovery; U.S. President Abraham Lincoln did, too. Photographs taken of the chief executive at the beginning of the war and near its end show how much he had aged in four years, as the great strain of trying to make the Union whole again took its toll. read more...

The opening shot of the Civil War was a mortar fired at Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor at 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861. Before the commencement of this attack, Gen Beauregard (the Confederate officer in charge at Charleston) and LeRoy Walker (the Confederate Secretary of War in Montgomery) exchanged a flurry of telegrams discussing the situation. read more...

Along with its many dead and horribly wounded, the U.S. Civil War caused the pain characteristic of all civil wars, when a country turns upon itself and brother fights brother, friendships are torn apart, and neighbors become enemies. read more...

The Civil War began the morning of April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. The entire week before the attack, Charleston had been buzzing with rumors, military preparations, and negotiations for the surrender of the fort. The nation’s eyes were turned toward Charleston as civil war loomed, and newspaper readers were anxious for news. read more...

NewsInHistory is continually adding more content to our historical newspaper archive—titles new to our collection as well as expanding the date ranges and number of issues for titles already in our archive. This current addition, our second in March, involves 10 newspapers from 9 states. A total of 7,844 issues have been added in this release! Here are the details:

Alabama

Mobile Register (Mobile). 347 issues: 1970 to 1992

Georgia read more...

The 12 years following the Civil War, known as the Reconstruction Era (1865-77), was a turbulent, disordered period in American history as the nation tried to heal itself from the scars of a terrible war, rebuild destroyed infrastructure and institutions, extend civil and political rights to freed slaves, and rehabilitate former Confederate states for readmission into the Union. It was during this time and in the troubled South that the first U.S. governor was removed from office by impeachment: William Woods Holden of North Carolina. read more...