Movements to oppose the federal government have a long history in America. And one of the first was building momentum 200 years ago in the New England states, where opposition to the War of 1812 was strong.

As the war dragged on, costing money and cramping trade, New Englanders became increasingly outraged. Massachusetts refused to put its militia under federal control, and the federal government retaliated by refusing to reimburse the state for war costs.

The simmering crisis became more dramatic when legislatures from New England states sent representatives to the Hartford Convention at the end of 1814. What the conventioneers did not know was that the Treaty of Ghent was being signed in Europe and the war was ending anyway.

Fearing insurrection, the federal government sent a regiment of troops to Hartford. And with the proceedings of the meeting being kept secret, rumors spread.

The New England states, of course, did not secede from the Union. The meeting was widely mocked, and scathing political cartoons depicted New Englanders wanting to leap back into the arms of the British king.

And while the Hartford Convention is not widely remembered today, it was in some ways an inspiration for the Nullification Crisis and the Secession Crisis that led to the Civil War.

More:

• The Hartford Convention
• Opposition to the War of 1812
• Causes of the War of 1812

Illustration: Detail from political cartoon mocking New Englanders ready to leap back into the arms of King George III/Library of Congress

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In late June 1863 newspapers were filled with confused dispatches from towns in western Maryland and southern Pennsylvania. Confederate troops led by Robert E. Lee were on the move and turning up in the North.

It was unclear at first whether the rebels were raiding to steal horses and forage for food or if something more serious was unfolding. A newspaper report 150 years ago today about a sizable Confederate force on its way to Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania, seemed to indicate a major invasion was underway.

For two weeks readers continued to be alarmed by reports of troops clad in gray riding into towns and taking what they wanted. Newspapers reported how shops were emptied out and storekeepers were paid with worthless Confederate money.

In one calculated act of vengeance, Confederate cavalrymen visited an iron works owned by the famed abolitionist member of Congress, Thaddeus Stevens. Stevens was hated in the South, and cavalry troopers not only burned his business, they methodically vandalized and looted the homes of his employees.

The Union Army began moving northward too, and eventually the two great armies would come together at an accidental meeting place, the small town of Gettysburg.

This week in Newspaper Sunday we look at the Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania as it was first reported in the newspapers.

Note: The links below lead to excerpts of articles at the newspaper archive at the Library of Congress. On the excerpt page you can click the "persistent link" to view the entire page of the newspaper.

• Washington National Republican, June 16, 1863: The Confederates were reported on their way to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
• New York Tribune, June 17, 1863: As Confederate units moved into southern Pennsylvania, the governor of the state made plans to defend the capital.
• New York Tribune, June 22, 1863: A report described how the rebels struck McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania, taking everything "they could possibly carry away."
• New York Tribune, June 23, 1863: A dispatch from Pennsylvania mentioned the town of Gettysburg in passing. Within ten days that place would become unforgettable.
• New York Tribune, June 25, 1863: As the crisis intensified, a group of War of 1812 veterans visited the governor of Pennsylvania, offering to help defend the state.
• New York Tribune, June 25, 1863: A dispatch from Baltimore indicated that southern sympathizers in the city were eager to greet Confederate invaders.
• The Raftsman's Journal, August 12, 1863: Weeks after the invasion had been turned back, a Pennsylvania newspaper printed a detailed account of how Confederate general Jubal Early had ordered the destruction of the property of Thaddeus Stevens.

Related: The Battle of Gettysburg

Illustration: Confederate raiders in Pennsylvania/courtesy New York Public Library Digital Collections

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As we approach the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, it's a good time to think about why that particular clash of Civil War armies has become such a part of the national memory.

The intense fighting, spread over three days, in the farmlands of southern Pennsylvania was perhaps destined to be memorable. It was the turning point of the entire war.

Up until the summer of 1863, the Union Army had been stumbling, and stumbling badly. And the Confederate military leader, Robert E. Lee, believed he could end the war by fighting a decisive battle on northern soil.

As Lee's Army of Northern Virginia moved across Maryland and into Pennsylvania, northern newspapers ran confused stories about rebel soldiers raiding the countryside for food, clothing, shoes, and horses. And it seemed that Lee's army, if it gathered in force, could actually threaten northern cities, including even the nation's capital.

The location of the eventual battle was accidental. Neither Lee nor his federal counterpart, General George Meade, played a role in picking the site. Gettysburg was simply a small place where a lot of roads came together.

And after those roads delivered massive numbers of troops, it took three bloody days to decide the outcome. When it was over, many thousands were dead, dying, and horribly wounded.

And Lee's battered army was forced to retreat back to Virginia.

Months later, President Lincoln delivered an address at the dedication of the new cemetery for those Union troops killed in the battle. In the famed Gettysburg Address, Lincoln used the pivotal battle as a symbol, and justification, for the entire war.

Related:

• The Significance of Gettysburg
• The Gettysburg Address

Photograph: Statue of General Warren atop Little Round Top at Gettysburg/photo by Robert McNamara

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When former president Andrew Jackson died, on June 8, 1845, it took weeks for the news to circulate. The telegraph had been invented, but was barely in use. And reports of major events still circulated by newspapers being mailed from town to town.

Living in retirement, the 78-year-old Jackson had been troubled by serious health problems, which had been reported in newspapers for some time. So his death was not a great shock to the nation, yet it was deeply felt by people across the political spectrum.

In many towns, people gathered in public tributes to Jackson. Some of the speeches were later criticized for being too lavish in their praise.

Jackson had always been controversial. He possessed a legendary temper and was often defined by the grudges he held. And considering the violent nature of his life, which included duels, battles against Indians and the British, and an assassination attempt in which Jackson thrashed his would-be killer, it was perhaps remarkable that he had lived so long.

The first mention of his death in the New York Tribune did not avoid references to his perceived flaws. But most American papers lauded him as a great patriot and a dominant historical figure.

This week in Newspaper Sunday we look at newspaper coverage of the death of Andrew Jackson in June 1845.

Note: The links below lead to excerpts of newspaper articles at the Chronicling America site of the Library of Congress. To view the entire page of the newspaper, click the "persistent link" on the excerpt page.

• New York Tribune, June 17, 1845: "We shower no indiscriminate unmeaning eulogies on the departed," said the New York Tribune, in an article announcing the news.
• Sunbury American, June 21, 1845: A Pennsylvania newspaper published an account of Jackson's life set off with wide black lines between columns to denote mourning.
• Boon's Lick Times, June 21, 1845: A Missouri newspaper printed an account of the scene at Jackson's deathbed.
• Jeffersonian Republican, June 26, 1845: A Pennsylvania newspaper printed a brief description of Jackson's funeral.
• Burlington Free Press, June 27, 1845: A Vermont paper lamented that some tributes to Jackson had engaged in "rigmarole of windy wordy fustian and falsehood."

Illustration: Andrew Jackson/Library of Congress

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