Research Guides: American Civil War: Resources in Special Collections: Pamphlets

About Pamphlets

Pamphlets published during the Civil War can provide information about political, social, religious, and intellectual issues of the day.

Pamphlets were published by a wide array of organizations, individuals, and represent many different viewpoints. They can range from sermons discussing the morality of the war, to speeches by politicians expressing their unique commentary on events.

The Maryland Room has an extensive collection of adddresses, speeches, and other pamphlet material published throughout the Civil War. These titles are searchable using the UMD online catalog.

This page lists a selection of pamphlets printed during the Civil War covering the following topics:

You may also locate Civil War era pamphlets in the Slavery Pamphlet Collection, which contains pamphlets related specifically to slavery and emancipation in the United States. See below for more information.

Image: The Flag of Truce. By the Chaplain. Baltimore: Printed by James Young, 1862.

Slavery Pamphlet Collection

The Slavery Pamphlet Collection documents slavery and African-American life in early America. It contains sermons, essays, reports, and other printed literature concerning attitudes toward slavery.

To search for materials from the Slavery Pamphlet Collection, use the College Park Advanced Search option and enter "Slavery Pamphlet Collection" into the search box using the all fields or notes option.

To narrow your search, use the year/s option to specify a date range. Enter the years "1700 to 1865" to cover early American history through the Civil War.

Politics and Government

Letter to President, on Subject of Slave Enlistments: State of Maryland, Executive Department, Annapolis, September 28th, 1863
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks E540.N3 M37 1863
[Annapolis, Md.? : s.n., 1863?].

Below is a selection of pamphlets on the topic of Civil War politics and government that are available in the Maryland Room. Additional titles can be searched using the online catalog.

New Jersey for the War: Speech of Hon. James M. Scovel, of Camden, New Jersey, on the Peace Resolutions: Delivered in the New Jersey House of Assembly, March 17, 1863. by James M. Scovel
Call Number: Rare Stacks E458.3 .S36 1863
Camden, N.J. : Printed at the West Jersey Press, 1863.
Remarks of Mr. Hutchins, of Ohio, & Mr. Kelley, of Pa., in the House of Representatives, January 29, 1863, on the Bill to Organize Regiments of Persons of African Descent by John Hutchins
Call Number: Rare Stacks E540.N3 H88 1863
[Washington, 1863].
Speech by Hon. John Sherman, of Ohio, on Emancipation as a Compensation for Military Service Rendered by Slaves: Delivered in the Senate of the United States, February 2, 1864 by John Sherman
Call Number: Rare Stacks E453 .S552 1864
Washington, D.C.: McGill & Witherow, printers, 1864.
Speech Delivered by Hon. J.M. Ashley, of Ohio: On the Rebellion, its Causes and Consequences, at College Hall in the City of Toledo, Tuesday Evening, November 26, 1861 by James Mitchell Ashley
Call Number: Rare Stacks E458.1 .A82 1861
Washington, D.C. : L. Towers, [1861?].
Speech of Hon. F. P. Blair, jr., of Missouri, on the Policy of the President for the Restoration of the Union and Establishment of Peace; Delivered in the House of Representative, April 11, 1862 by Frank P. Blair
Call Number: Rare Stacks E453 .B629 1862
Washington, Printed at the Congressional globe office, 1862.
Speech of Hon. H. Winter Davis, of Maryland, on Confiscation of Rebel Property: Delivered in the House of Representatives, January 14, 1864. by H. Winter Davis
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks E480 .D28 1864
[Washington] : L. Towers & Co., [1864].
Speech of the Hon. Montgomery Blair, on the Causes of the Rebellion and in Support of the President’s Plan of Pacification: Delivered Before the Legislature of Maryland, at Annapolis, on the 22d of January, 1864. by Montgomery Blair
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks E458.4 .B63
Baltimore : Sherwood & Co., 1864.
Report of the Committee on Federal Relations, with the Report of the Peace Commissioners Appointed to Wait on Presidents Lincoln and Davis by the General Assembly by Maryland. General Assembly. House of Delegates. Committee on Federal Relations.
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks J87 .M3 1861 Extra Session House and Senate no. 21
Frederick : B.H. Richardson, Printer, 1861.
The War Powers of the General Government by Anna Ella Carroll
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks E462 .C3
Washington: Printed by H. Polkinhorn, 1861.
Preamble and Resolutions in Regard to the Objects of the Present War Introduced by the Hon. William Price of Baltimore City and passed by the General Assembly of Maryland, December 23, 1861 by Maryland. General Assembly.
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks J87 .M3 1861 Special Session House no. 5
Annapolis, Md. : Thomas J. Wilson, 1861.
Remarks of Mr. Thomas, of Massachusetts, on the Relation of the "Seceded States" (so-called) to the Union and the Confiscation of Property and Emancipation of Slaves in such States in the House of Representatives, April 10, 1862 by Benjamin Franklin Thomas
Call Number: Rare Stacks E458.2 .T45
Washington : Printed at the Congressional Globe Office, 1862.
Speech of Hon. Leonard Myers, of Pennsylvania, Delivered in the House of Representatives, March 24, 1866. The Responsibilities of Congress. Acceptance of the Results of the War the True Basis of Reconstruction. Liberty Regulated by Law the Safeguard of th by Leonard Myers
Call Number: Rare Stacks E668 .M94 1866
Washington, Printed at the Congressional Globe Office, 1866.

Commentary on the War

A Few Words in Behalf of the Loyal Women of the United States. By One of Themselves
Call Number: Rare Stacks E628 .F49 1863
New York : W.C. Bryant & Co., printers, 1863.

Below is a selection of pamphlets pertaining to Civil War commentaries that are available in the Maryland Room. Additional titles can be searched using the online catalog.

Flag of Truce. By the Chaplain.
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks E458.2 .F523 1862
Baltimore : Printed by James Young, 1862.
Influence of the War on our National Prosperity. A Lecture Delivered in Baltimore, Md ... March 13th, 1865, by William E. Dodge. by William E. Dodge
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks E649 .D64
New York, W. C. Martin, printer, 1865.
Our Country’s Troubles: A Sermon Preached in the Church of the Epiphany, Philadelphia, June 29, 1856 by Dudley A. Tyng
Call Number: Rare Stacks E449 .T96 1864
Philadelphia : William S. & Alfred Martien, 1864.
Our Federal Union, it Must be Preserved: Speech of Thomas Swann, Delivered before the Union League of Philadelphia, March 2d, 1863 by Thomas Swann
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks E458.3 .S92 1863
[Baltimore?] : Printed by Bull & Tuttle, 1863.
Stephen A. Douglas on the Cause and Effect of the Rebellion: Letter from Thomas B. Bryan, Esq. by Thomas B. Bryan
Call Number: Rare Stacks E458.3 .B9 1863
[Chicago? : s.n., 1863]
The Causes of the American Civil War: A Letter to the London Times by John Lothrop Motley
Call Number: Rare Stacks E458.1 .M91 1861
New York : J.G. Gregory, 1861.
The Contest in America by John Stuart Mill
Call Number: Rare Stacks E458.2 .M64
Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1862.
War and Emancipation: A Thanksgiving Sermon, Preached in the Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, N.Y., on Thursday, November 21, 1861 by Henry Ward Beecher
Call Number: Rare Stacks E458.1 .B39 1861
Philadelphia : T.B. Peterson & Bros., [1861].

Slavery and Emancipation

A Fair Statement. The True Issue. Negro Suffrage No Part of the Union Platform. Published by the Fifteenth Ward Committee for the Dissemination of Sound Political Information
Call Number: Rare Stacks JK1924 .F25 1866
[S.l.] : Fifteenth Ward Committee, [1866?].

Below is a selection of pamphlets on the topic of slavery and emancipation that are available in the Maryland Room. Additional titles can be searched using the online catalog.

A Reply to Bishop Hopkins’ View of Slavery, and a Review of the Times by John R. Bolles
Call Number: Rare Stacks E453 .B655 1865
Philadelphia, J. W. Daughaday; 1865.
Immediate Emancipation in Maryland. Proceedings of the Union State Central Committee, at a Meeting Held in Temperance Temple, Baltimore, Wednesday, December 16, 1863 by Republican Party (Md.). State Central Committee
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks E453 .R47 1863
Baltimore, Printed by Bull & Tuttle, 1863.
Letter to President, on Subject of Slave Enlistments: State of Maryland, Executive Department, Annapolis, September 28th, 1863 by Maryland. Governor (1862-1866 : Bradford)
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks E540.N3 M37 1863
[Annapolis, Md.? : s.n., 1863?]
Maffit Against Goldsborough: the Records Compared by the Unconditional Union State Central Committee, October 7th, 1863. by Unconditional Union Party (Md.)
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks E512 .U53 1863
Baltimore : Printed by Sherwood & Co., [1863]
Slavery and the War: A Historical Essay by Henry Darling
Call Number: Rare Stacks E453 .D22 1863
Philadelphia : J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1863.
Speech of Hon. John A.J. Creswell, of Maryland, on the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution of the United States: Delivered in the House of Representatives, January 5th, 1865 by John Creswell
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks E453 .C74 1865
[Washington] : L. Towers, [1865]
The "Negro Question" by Joseph Parrish
Call Number: Rare Stacks E185.2 .P27 1864
Philadelphia, Perkinpine & Higgins, 1864.
The African’s Right to Citizenship
Call Number: Rare Stacks E185.2 .A37 1865
Philadelphia : James S. Claxton, 1865.
The Emancipation Problem in Maryland by Brantz Mayer
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks E453 .M29 1862
Baltimore, Maryland : [s. n.] , 1862.
The Rebellion and the Proclamation/ Speech of J.W. Crisfield, of Maryland; Delivered in the House of Representatives, Dec. 19, 1862. by J.W. Crisfield
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks E453 .C75 1862
[Washington, D.C.] : L. Towers & Co., [1862?]
The Slave Power: Its Heresies and Injuries to the American People, a Speech by John C. Hamilton
Call Number: Rare Stacks E441 .H3 1864
New York : J.A. Gray & Green, printers, [1864?].
The South, its Resources and Wants: ... Embracing His Address to the Citizens of New Orleans, Address at Montgomery, Ala., and His Address to his Constituents by William D. Kelley
Call Number: Rare Stacks E668 .K295 1866
Washington, D.C. : Union Republican Congressional Executive Committee, [1866?].