The Independent (Oskaloosa, Kan.)
Historic newspapers carry the language, views and graphic reporting of their time, including racist content. They are shown to teen and adult profiles.
279 issues from 1860 to 1865, published in Oskaloosa, Kansas, digitised for Chronicling America.
The first issue of The Independent was published in Oskaloosa on July 11, 1860. Contrary to what the name suggests, The Independent clearly stated: “we are for the Union, for our county, for the glorious Republic we have loved.” Subscribers received a copy of the newspaper with its four-page, seven-column format every Wednesday before it switched to a Saturday publication schedule in July 1861. The Independent experienced wide circulation in Jefferson County, which had a population of nearly 5,000 in 1860, as well as in other counties in northeastern Kansas.
The Independent was founded by John Wesley Roberts (1824-1900), an abolitionist and prohibitionist, who wrote his editorials from his home in Waynesville, Ohio, until he moved to Oskaloosa in 1862. Roberts had previously been publisher for The Miami Visitor in Warren County, Ohio, in which he described the events of Bleeding Kansas as recounted by his own family members. Roberts’ brother-in-law, John W. Day (1833-1905), acted as local editor and business manager of the The Independent. Although The Independent obviously sided with the Free-State cause, Roberts in his editorials denounced lawlessness on both sides. Only 30 miles from the border with Missouri, Oskaloosa witnessed important military actions during the Civil War, including Quantrill’s Raid on the city of Lawrence and Price’s Raid along the Kansas and Missouri border. The unique content and distinctive format of The Independent was emphasized by the paper’s…
- Genres
- News
- Published in
- Oskaloosa, Kansas, United States
- Language
- English
- Collection
- Chronicling America
- Licence or status
- None stated by the archive
- Rights
- The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety.
- Credit
- Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities
- Who can read it
- Teens profiles and older (placed by Invisible Network from what the archive says; archives give no ratings)
- Archive
- Library of Congress