Tulane Digital Library | Collection

The Antebellum Era, 1812-1860 digital collection includes a significant number of artifacts contributed by members of the Teaching American History in Louisiana (TAHIL) partnership. TAHIL providers include the Louisiana State Archives, Louisiana State Museum, The Historic New Orlean s Collection and Tulane University Library Special Collections. Louisiana's antebellum history is reveled through a variety of artifacts that document a variety of critical topics in American History. Maps from the Louisiana State Museum, The Historic New Orleans Collection and Tulane University Library Special Collections follow the territorial growth of the United States from the Louisiana Purchase through the 1850s. Antebellum New Orleans lifestyles unfold through paintings, newspaper ads and sheet music, such as The Bamboula by Louis Gottschalk. Three-dimensional artifacts, official deeds and bills of sale explain the unique economic and social roles of Free People of Color in Louisiana. Of particular note is The Historic New Orleans Collection's Les Cenelles, a rare book of African-American poetry, probably the first such collection published in the United States, containing poems written by free men of color in New Orleans. These artifacts coupled with samples of French and English newspapers, sheet music from Louisiana's Know Nothing Party, and naturalization certificates attest to New Orleans's social and cultural diversity. Invoices, newspaper ads, maps and three-dimensional artifacts also indicate the diversity of Louisiana's antebellum economy. Norman's Chart of the Lower Mississippi River documents land ownership along the river while Norman's Plan of New Orleans and Environs reveals how New Orleans dominated river trade. The issue of slavery is traced by newspaper ads, artifacts and records of slave insurrections. Researchers may also examine digital images of uncut bank notes and Louisiana's French "Dix" from the antebellum period.