New Mexico, wrested from Mexico in 1848 at the close of the Mexican-American War, waited 64 years before finally being admitted as the 47th state of the Union on Jan. 6, 1912. As the anticipated day drew nearer, internal political squabbling caused delays. Then there was the matter of a federal lawsuit over land acquisition by a lumber company holding things up. The official inauguration was set for Jan. 1, 1912, but that day came and went without President Taft signing the statehood proclamation. read more...
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Early in the morning of Jan. 6, 1919, Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt, the nation’s 26th president, quietly died in his sleep. His death ended one of the most remarkable lives and careers in American history. Ranked by historians as one of the nation’s greatest presidents, Roosevelt was a state legislator, police commissioner and governor (of New York); assistant secretary of the navy; and vice president (under William McKinley). read more...
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Few Americans realize that we almost fought a third war with the British when, in the 1840s, war fever gripped the nation over the dispute concerning the “Oregon Country.” This was a vast area, stretching from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, from California all the way up to Alaska, rich with resources and fertile land. The U.S. and Great Britain signed the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, agreeing to joint occupancy of the Oregon Country, and updated this with another treaty in 1827. read more...
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NewsInHistory is continually adding more content to our historical newspapers archive—titles new to our collection as well as expanding the date ranges and number of issues for titles already in our archive. New titles are indicated by an asterisk (*). This current addition involves 48 newspapers from 20 states. A total of 33,785 issues have been added in this release! Here are the details:
Arkansas read more...
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In 1831 William Lloyd Garrison began publishing his powerful anti-slavery newspaper, the Liberator. His paper became the pre-eminent abolitionist organ of 19th-century America, printing many articles, letters and editorials denouncing the cruelty of slavery. read more...
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After a tangled history of religious persecution, polygamy and violence, the Mormons in Utah got their wish when admitted into the Union as the 45th state on Jan. 4, 1896. The Mormons, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), established their own community in Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1839 after being persecuted in Ohio and Missouri for their religious beliefs. (In fact, the conflict in Missouri got so bad that on Oct. 27, 1838, Missouri Governor Lilburn W. read more...
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At the beginning of the Civil War, the Confederate States of America was hoping for England’s official recognition and possible aid in defeating the Union blockade of its ports. During the last seven weeks of 1861, the Confederacy came tantalizingly close to having its wildest dreams realized, as the tense diplomatic crisis known as the Trent Affair brought Great Britain and the Union dangerously close to war. read more...
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Just two years after the Civil War ended, while the nation was busy rebuilding itself, Secretary of State William Henry Seward surprised many by negotiating with Russia to purchase Alaska for $7.2 million, amounting to the ludicrously low price of about two cents per acre. Even so, critics blasted the purchase as “Seward’s Folly,” wasting money on a barren, remote land of ice and snow. The Alaska Treaty of Cessation was signed on March 30, 1867, and ratified by the U.S. Senate on April 9. read more...
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The admission of Texas into the Union as the 28th state on Dec. 29, 1845, came after a great deal of controversy in the country and heated debate in Congress. For one thing, Texas had been an independent country since 1836, when it won independence from Mexico and formed the Republic of Texas: some argued U.S. law permitted annexation of American territories, but not other countries. read more...
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December 1890 was a cruel month for the Lakota Indians. On Dec. 15 Sitting Bull, a chief and holy man of the Hunkpapa Lakota, was killed along with eight of his followers by Indian police sent to arrest him. Just two weeks later Sitting Bull’s half-brother Spotted Elk (Big Foot) and his band of Miniconjou and Hunkpapa Lakota were slaughtered at the infamous Wounded Knee massacre on Dec. 29. read more...
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I understand that when writing a blog, it’s necessary to show a picture and say a few words about yourself, so that people don’t think a nameless, faceless committee or advisory board is running the show. Here I am, a real person. My name is Tony Pettinato, and I live in Deerfield, Mass. I did my undergraduate studies in English at Oberlin College, my graduate work in Journalism at UC Berkeley, and have been a reporter for six newspapers. For the past fourteen years I have worked at NewsBank, six of those as a managing editor for the U.S. Congressional Serial Set project – NewsBank’s acclaimed effort that digitized and indexed twelve million pages of primary source documents – that gratified my lifelong interest in American history. And that led me to editing this history blog!
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