Original Sources
The words and images of this time are most powerful when read in their original forms. The Internet Archive and other trusted sources make it possible to explore works as they first appeared.
Chapter One: Revelations • 1800–1829
Chapter Two: Reckonings • 1820–1830
American Books
Capturing Nature
Appeals to the World
Chapter Three: Rebellions • 1827–1836
Freedom’s Advocates
Rebellions Against Slavery
Democracy in America
Native Voices and Faces
Women in Public
Chapter Four: Reflections • 1836–1848
Transcendence
School Wars
Living by the Pen and Brush
Escaping Slavery
Chapter Five: Explorations • 1841–1848
A Search for Heroes
Atlantic and Pacific
Overland
A Nation’s Destiny
War
Chapter Six: Boundaries • 1840–1845
The Body
Woman’s Place
Secret Chambers
The Guiding Clue
Narrative of Freedom
Christian Against Christian
Chapter Seven: Voyages • 1845–1850
Rights
The Marble Slave
Science, Spirits, and Nature
Shattered Voyages
Chapter Eight: Confrontations • 1850–1855
The Scarlet Letter, the White Whale, and the Wide World
Women’s Voices Against Slavery
Exposing Slavery to the World
Witnessing the South
Sympathies for the Slave
Chapter Nine: Culminations • 1855–1860
Popular America
Song of America
The Throne of the Despot
Chapter Ten: Epilogue • 1859–1861
The Sword and the Noose