Early American Newspapers: By Decade
1690-1922
- Select by decade: the most comprehensive and authoritative online source of historical American newspapers
- Titles from every region of the U.S. provide an unparalleled record of people, issues and events
- Meet specific teaching or research needs, or create a collection by selecting one or more decades at a time
1690 - 1779
The First Nine Decades in One Consolidated Unit
Events covered include: Salem witchcraft, Slavery institutionalized, First Great Awakening, Pontiac's Rebellion, Royal Proclamation of 1763, Stamp Act Crisis, Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, First Continental Congress, Battle of Lexington and Concord, Declaration of Independence, Rise of Republicanism, Treaty of Paris, Shays' Rebellion, U.S. Constitutional Convention, Rise of Republican Motherhood.
1780 - 1789
Events covered include: Siege of Charleston, Articles of Confederation ratified, Treaty of Paris ends the American Revolutionary War, Shay’s Rebellion, George Washington inaugurated.
1790 - 1799
Events covered include: Bill of Rights ratified, George Washington reelected, Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, Whiskey Rebellion, Alien and Sedition Acts, Logan Act, George Washington dies.
1800 - 1809
Events covered include: Thomas Jefferson elected, Marbury v. Madison, Louisiana Purchase, New Jersey abolishes slavery, Burr-Hamilton duel, Lewis and Clark begin expedition, James Madison elected.
1810 - 1819
Events covered include: War of 1812 begins, Louisiana becomes 18th state, British troops burn Washington, D.C., Battle of New Orleans, James Monroe elected, Panic of 1819.
1820 - 1829
Events covered include: Monroe reelected, Missouri becomes state, Florida becomes a territory, Monroe Doctrine proclaimed, James Quincy Adams elected, Erie Canal completed, Andrew Jackson elected.
1830 - 1839
Events covered include: Second Great Awakening, Oregon Trails comes into use, Indian Removal Act, Nat Turner’s revolt, The Liberator begins publication, Black Hawk War, Department of Indian Affairs established, revolver invented, Panic of 1837, Amistad case.
1840 - 1849
Events covered include: John Quincy Adams argues Amistad case before Supreme Court, Webster-Ashburton Treaty, Dorr Rebellion, Texas annexation, U.S.-Mexican War, Bear Flag revolt, Wilmot Proviso, Dred Scott sues for his freedom, California Gold Rush begins.
1850 - 1859
Events covered include: Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, Compromise of 1850 with Fugitive Slave Act passed, California becomes a state, Gadsden Purchase, Whig Party collapses, Pottawatomie massacre, Dred Scott v. Sandford, Utah War, Lincoln-Douglas Debates, John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry.
1860 - 1869
Events covered include: Pony Express begins, Abraham Lincoln elected, Confederate States of America established, American Civil War begins, Homestead Act, Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation, New York City draft riots, Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant, Civil Rights Act of 1866, Ku Klux Klan founded, First Transcontinental Railroad completed.
1870 - 1879
Events covered include: Enforcement Acts passed, Great Chicago Fire, Yellowstone National Park created, Amnesty Act, Panic of 1873, Red River Indian War, Civil Rights Act of 1875, National League of baseball founded, Battle of Little Big Horn, Reconstruction ends, Thomas Edison creates light bulb.
1880 - 1889
Events covered include: U.S. population exceeds 50 million, James Garfield assassinated, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Tuskegee Institute founded, Chinese Exclusion Act, Civil Rights Cases of 1883, Haymarket Riot, American Federation of Labor founded, Statue of Liberty dedicated, Dawes Act, Jane Addams founds Hull House.
1890 - 1899
Events covered include: Sherman Antitrust Act, Wounded Knee Massacre, National American Woman Suffrage Association founded, Homestead Strike, Panic of 1893, Coxey’s Army, Plessy v. Ferguson, Williams Jennings Bryan delivers Cross of Gold speech, USS Maine explodes, Treaty of Paris.
1900 - 1909
Events covered include: Boxer Rebellion, Galveston Hurricane, William McKinley assassinated, Theodore Roosevelt elected, Ford Motor Company founded, Big Stick Diplomacy, Department of Commerce and Labor created, Wright brothers flight, Panama Canal Zone acquired, San Francisco earthquake, NAACP founded by W.E.B. Du Bois.
1910 - 1919
Events covered include: Mann-Elkins Act, Triangle Shirtwaist fire, Titanic sinks, Woodrow Wilson elected, woman suffrage parade organized by Alice Paul, income tax established, Philippine-American War ends, Lusitania sunk, Jeannette Rankin elected to U.S. congress, U.S. enters World War I, First Red Scare, Treaty of Versailles, 18th Amendment establishes Prohibition.
1920 - 1922
Events covered include: 19th Amendment grants women right to vote, Sacco and Vanzetti arrested, first radio broadcasts, Volstead Act, Emergency Quota Act, Fordney-McCumber Tariff.
Each of the ten-year Decades above is also available in five-year segments.
The Early American Newspapers series is available within America’s Historical Newspapers.
