African American Newspapers: The 19^th Century

David Zimmerman and Tracey Weis
Millersville University

Introduction

“This enormous collection of African-American newspapers contains a wealth of information about the cultural life and history during the 1800s, and is rich with first-hand reports of the major events and issues of the day, including the Mexican War, Presidential and congressional addresses, Congressional abstracts, business and commodity markets, the humanities, world travel and religion. They also contain large numbers of early biographies, vital statistics, essays and editorials, poetry and prose, and advertisements all of which embody the African-American experience.

 

Starting with the Freedom’s Journal in 1827 and continuing in chronological order with the addition of 10 to 12 million words of new text each year (downloaded monthly), this database will ultimately contain the complete text of the major African-American newspapers published in the United States during the 19th century. Never before has such important original source material written by African-Americans for African-Americans been readily available for research and fresh interpretation by historians, sociologists, educators and students.

From Accessible Archives <http://www.accessible.com>

Objectives:

 After completing this lesson, students will be able to:

·      Use appropriate search terms to effectively search an electronic database.

·      Analyze primary source documents.

·      Use newspapers to investigate and to understand a historical incident.

·      Make a connection between local events, individuals, and organizations and the national history of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850

 

Local/State/National Standards:

To be addressed by workshop participants

 

Introduction and Historical Background

For this exercise we will be using William Whipper as the subject of our search. Born in Lancaster in 1804 and later circulating between Columbia and Philadelphia, Whipper was one of the wealthiest African-Americans of his time. The extensive investments of Whipper and his business partner Stephen Smith included land holdings in Pennsylvania and Canada, lumberyards, railroad cars, and a steam ship on Lake Erie. Many of these assets were directly employed in aiding the escape of African-Americans from southern slavery. Whipper was a strong proponent of moral reform (and non-resistance), believing that white prejudice against African-Americans sprung “not from the color of their skin, but from their condition.” As a leader of the American Moral Reform Society and editor of its newspaper The National Reformer, Whipper remained committed to integration within the abolitionist movement and opposed the formation of separate black organizations.

 

Time Required for Exercise:  50 minutes

 

Step One: Accessing the Database (5 minutes)

1)    Go to the Millersville University Library homepage at http://library.millersville.edu/

2)    Click on the Electronic Periodical Collections from the left-hand sidebar.

3)    Select African-American Newspapers: The 19^th Century.

4)    Scroll down the Accessible Archives page to African-American Newspapers: The 19^th Century and click on the boxes for each of the seven newspapers listed.

5)    Return to the top of the page for the search field.

 

Step Two:  Browsing the Database (10 minutes)

1)    To familiarize yourself with the database, search for newspaper articles relating to William Whipper by entering “William Whipper” into the search field (the name should be enclosed in quotations). The search engine is not case sensitive. Click on the Search button to begin.

 

2)    Browse through the resulting list. Review the list of questions below as you proceed. To view articles, click on Show Highlights (full text) on the lower right-hand side of each citation. Notice the search term “William Whipper” is highlighted where it appears throughout the text. Articles can also be accessed by clicking on the highlighted dateline appearing at the beginning of the citation; however, if you use this option the search term will not be highlighted in the article’s text. Click Back in the upper left-hand corner of your screen to return to the complete list of articles. The 19 articles returned on this search include various personal correspondences and published speeches—including an extensive lecture by Whipper on non-resistance published over several issues of The Colored American (Documents 9, 14, 17). Additionally, there are a series of articles entitled “William Whipper’s Letters” (Documents 7, 11, 12, 16) in which the author uses Whipper’s well-known views on integration and non-resistance as a foil for his argument in favor of separate black organizations and self-defense.

 

3)    Notice Document #3 announcing the publication of The National Reformer—the organ of the American Reform Society edited by William Whipper.

 

Note: To extend the searching component of this exercise, you could look for other articles relating to William Whipper by using additional search terms (e.g., American Moral Reform Society, Stephen Smith, and Columbia, Pennsylvania).

 

Step Three: Critical Reading (20 minutes)

1)    Limit your search within the articles on William Whipper by entering a second search term (along with “William Whipper”) linked with “and.” For example, search for documents relating to both William Whipper and Frederick Douglass by entering “William Whipper” and “Frederick Douglass.” Notice that the two search terms are enclosed in separate sets of quotation marks. This search yields an interesting letter (Document #1 on the returned list of two) from Whipper to Frederick Douglass published in the Frederick Douglass Paper. Both of the search terms are now highlighted throughout the text.

 

2)    As you read and re-read the article, keep the following questions in mind and keep track of your responses and observations:

·      Who is the author?
[Note any background information found in the introduction to this exercise that may help you to understand the background of the author.]

·      Who is the audience?

·      What is the purpose of Whipper's letter? Why do you think he wrote to Douglass about this particular incident? What was Whipper’s assessment of this incident?

·      Where is the setting for this writing?

·      When was it written?

·       How does this letter relate to the time period?

·       What does this document suggest about the challenges faced by African Americans in the mid-nineteenth century?

·      What does this document suggest about the strategies devised by African Americans in the mid-nineteenth century to address these challenges?

·      What questions does this document raise for you?

Step Four: Summarizing and Synthesizing What You Have Learned (15 minutes)

Outline a reply from Douglass to Whipper. What do you know about Douglass and/or this time period that will help you to draft a response?

 

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Instructor Evaluation:

Evaluating Inquiry Assignments (40 minutes)

The adoption of academic standards at the national and state levels affects our teaching styles as well as what we expect our students to learn and how we design assessments to measure student understanding. What kinds of assessments help our students meet these standards? How can the implementation of new technologies encourage dynamic lessons, extend student learning and assist in creating lessons that align with standards?

Part A: Review the Activity (10 minutes)

Working with a partner, address the following questions:

·      What Essential Understanding/Big Idea is at the center of this activity?  (What will  students and other learners "know" when they have completed the activity?)

·      How will students and other learners demonstrate their understanding? (Performance Task)

·      How will the Performance Task be assessed?

Part B: Alignment with Standards (20 minutes)

Using local, state, and/or national standards as a guide, identify at least three standards that will be met by this inquiry assignment.

Pennsylvania Standards

http://www.pde.psu.edu/issini.html

National History Standards

http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/nchs/standards/