Gale Unveils Groundbreaking New Digital Archive on Global Impact of The American Civil War

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – Gale, part of Cengage Group, is helping faculty and researchers explore and understand the transnational impact of the American Civil War. The company has launched The American Civil War: The International Context, a new digital archive that demonstrates the far-reaching involvement of European nations in the American Civil War, shedding light on their internal discussions, reactions to diplomatic overtures from both Union and Confederate forces, and the war’s impact on international politics and society. This first-of-its-kind collection gives researchers and students an unprecedented look into the global ramifications of one of America’s most pivotal conflicts, enabling scholars to analyze the war from a variety of international perspectives and its influence on political history worldwide.

 “The American Civil War: The International Context represents a leap forward in understanding this critical historical period,” said Seth Cayley, vice president of global academic product at Gale. “By offering access to primary sources that illuminate the war’s global implications, we are enabling researchers and students to examine how this conflict influenced not only American history but also the trajectory of 19th-century international relations, the direction of democracy and the end of the institution of chattel slavery.”

With The American Civil War archive, researchers have access to a set of primary sources that offer a range of perspectives on the conflict, both in America and in Europe. Scholars can explore correspondence, newspapers, commercial and trade papers, manuscripts and personal papers, legal briefs and other documents, gaining new insights for instruction and scholarship into the many viewpoints represented.

Key collections in the archive include:

The National Archives, U.K.

• Lord John Russell Papers (selected volumes): This collection includes correspondence from Lord John Russell’s time as Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister of the U.K. (1846-1852 and 1865-1866). The selected volumes comprise his correspondence with foreign embassies and legations in Washington and Mexico, as well as letters with the Cabinet, including the Duke of Somerset, the First Lord of the Admiralty.

The British Library, U.K.

• The London American: This pro-Union propaganda journal was published in London in 1860 during the American Civil War and edited by John Adams Knight. Its original purpose was to inform Europeans of events and happenings in America and to keep American residents in Europe in touch with life back home. However, after the attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861, the newspaper focused more on promoting the Unionist cause. The London American is an important source for the subject of Anglo-American relations during the American Civil War and highlights the animosity and relationship between Britain and the North. Many of its articles shared hostilities towards the Confederates and Britain—emphasizing the newspaper’s republican, anti-monarchy, anti-aristocracy, and pro-working-class views. It also offers a case study for the kind of rhetoric the paper used to stir public fears of British involvement in the war.
• The Index: A journal established in 1862 by Henry Hotze, primarily to spread Confederate propaganda throughout Europe during the American Civil War. The publication was meant to rival and take a separate stance from the pro-Union newspaper, The London American. The Index purposely sought out aristocratic readers and discussed British intervention and focused on the economic impacts of the war, such as cotton shortages in Britain from the Union’s blockade on the South and the famine in Lancashire. Although the paper’s goal was to garner more support for the Confederate cause, its pro-slavery stance remained unpopular with Britain. Together both newspapers underscore for researchers the contrast in viewpoints and the propagandistic efforts to shape British public opinion during the American Civil War.

Nationaal Archief Nederland

• Records from Het Archief van het Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, 1813-1894 (The Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1813-1894): Established originally as a Secretariat in 1813, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs dealt with Dutch foreign policy and issues related to the Dutch empire, including political and secret affairs, diplomatic relations, trade and commerce, and foreign economic policy. Notable in this collection are the political despatches from Dutch diplomatic representatives abroad, reporting on regions such as America and Europe during the American Civil War. Other correspondence and papers relate to international laws regarding neutrality during the American Civil War, the Dutch Consulate in New Orleans after the capture of the city, Confederate ships in Dutch West Indies ports, the emigration of workers to Suriname, the extradition of criminals and deserted seamen from the United States and trade arrangements with the U.S.

Rigsarkivet, Danmark

• Udenrigsministeriet (Ministry of Foreign Affairs): The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was established in 1848 as the ministry responsible for Denmark’s foreign policy, overseeing issues such as security, foreign trade, economic relations, diplomacy and consular affairs. Much of the ministry’s correspondence involved Danish representatives and local authorities in the Danish West Indies. The files in this collection mostly concern the United States’ desire to acquire the Danish West Indies, notably the islands of Saint Thomas and Saint John, during the 1860s.

The American Civil War archive is available on the Gale Primary Sources platform, enabling cross-archival searching to help users make new connections across topics. For those seeking to explore even deeper insights, the archive is also available for text-mining analyses within Gale Digital Scholar Lab. This allows researchers to apply natural language processing tools across thousands of documents from Gale Primary Sources and perform a variety of textual analyses. Now researchers can analyze and explore historical text more interactively, generating new research insights and content sets not previously possible.

Gale Primary Sources is a digital research platform that brings the thoughts, words and actions of past centuries into the present for a comprehensive research experience. With authoritative content and powerful search technologies, Gale Primary Sources helps students and researchers examine literary, political and social culture of the last 500 years and develop a more meaningful understanding of how history continues to impact the world today. Its innovative technology improves discovery, analysis and workflow while setting the bar for digital primary source analysis and data visualization with tools like cross-archival searching and Topic Finder, which visually organizes search results to help users make new connections across topics.

Gale will host a free webinar on The American Civil War archive on Wednesday, January 15 at 11am ET. To register, visit the webinar registration page.

For more information or to request a trial, visit The American Civil War web page. 

About Cengage Group and Gale

Cengage Group, an education technology company serving millions of learners in 165 countries, advances the way students learn through quality, digital experiences. The company currently serves the K-12, higher education, professional, library, English language teaching and workforce training markets worldwide. Gale, part of Cengage Group, provides libraries with original and curated content, as well as the modern research tools and technology that are crucial in connecting libraries to learning, and learners to libraries. For more than 65 years, Gale has partnered with libraries around the world to empower the discovery of knowledge and insights – where, when and how people need it. Gale has 500 employees globally with its main operations in Farmington Hills, Michigan. For more information, please visit www.gale.com.

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