Nineteenth Century Life Chapters

What made the 19th century an interesting but tumultuous time? What technological, cultural and social changes influenced life then? Explore those issues in this story collection.

African-American slaves are bought and sold like animals in the country's system of chattel slavery.

The survivors of Peshigo bury their dead and then rebuild their city.

View Mathew Brady's photographs from the brutal battle at Petersburg, Virginia during America's War Between the States.

Petersburg, Virginia is a strategically important town to the Confederates during the Civil War. Union leaders believe they can win the war if they c...

Charley Williams shares his life story about what it was like to live as a slave on a plantation.

While helping to build a home for the Epps family, Platt (Solomon Northup) meets a Canadian man called Bass. That meeting will change Platt's life.

With an intermediate stop in Richmond (Virginia), Solomon Northup (now known by his slave-name "Platt") spends time in another slave pen before he boa...

Poe's bloody detective stories begin to mirror real life, including his wife's diagnosis of tuberculosis.

At 27, Poe falls in love with his cousin Virginia, whom he marries when she is 13.

Jack the Ripper begins his crime spree by murdering a 42-year-old woman named Polly Nichols.

The attention of Pope Pius IX, along with the splendor of Rome, sways Edgardo to stay.

Benjamin Banneker proves himself a genius, yet slavery continues even after it is illegal.

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