University Library News
Georgia State University

Pennsylvania Gazette and The Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective

We now have access to the Pennsylvania Gazette and The Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective via the web on the Georgia State University Campus.

Published in Philadelphia from 1728 through 1800, The Pennsylvania Gazette is considered The New York Times of the 18th century. It provides the reader with a first hand view of colonial America, the American Revolution and the New Republic, and offers important social, political and cultural perspectives of each of the periods. Thousands of articles, editorials, letters, news items and advertisements cover the Western Hemisphere, from the Canadian Maritime Provinces, through the West Indies and North and South America, giving a detailed glimpse of issues and lifestyles of the times. Also included is the full-text of such important writings such as: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, Letters from a Farmer, Thomas Payne’s Common Sense, The Federalist Papers, etc.

The Civil War database contains the full text of major articles gleaned from over 2,500 issues of The New York Herald, The Charleston Mercury and the Richmond Enquirer, published between November 1, 1860 and April 15, 1865. The text begins with the events preceding the outbreak of war at Fort Sumter, continues through the surrender at Appomattox, and concludes with the assassination and funeral of Abraham Lincoln. Included are descriptive news articles, eye-witness accounts and official reports of battles and events, editorials, advertisements and biographies. A great effort has been made also to include articles which describe other than military concerns of the day. These include such topics as travel, arts and leisure, geographical descriptions, sports and sporting, social events, etc.

Since the major events are described in detail by both Union and Confederate papers, their opposing perspectives are readily available for comparative evaluation.

Both databases are available from our Research Databases page or directly at:  http://accessible.palinet.org/welcome.htm

*Author ID: 31 Author name: Doug*