Horace Greeley was a newspaper editor best known for his words “Go West, young man.”
Read the current chapters online:
“Horace Greeley Learning to Print”
Suggestions
- Map the following (you’ll find mapping resources below):
- New Hampshire
- Amherst, New Hampshire (where Horace Greeley was born)
- Vermont (where the Greeley family moved after they sold their farm)
- East Poultney, Vermont (where Horace Greeley took his first printing job)
- Learn more about spelling schools.
- Make a list of the anecdotes the author tells that show how much Horace Greeley loved to read.
- How do you think Horace Greeley came to know more than his teacher?
- View a half-peck measure — and imagine wearing one on your head!
- Towhead is a compound word that comes from tow, meaning “flax,” and head to refer to someone with very light-colored hair. Think of another compound word used to describe something or someone.
- Narrate the story of how Horace Greeley became a famous newspaper man.
- More about Horace Greeley:
From Hidden Treasures by H.A. LewisIn the history of journalism, Horace Greeley must, for all time, hold a position in the front rank…. The Greeley ancestors enjoyed a reputation for ‘tenacity,’ which was clearly shown in the pale-faced, flaxen-haired but precocious lad of fifteen, who presented himself and was employed at the office of the Northern Spectator, at Poultney, Vermont, in 1826; having walked from West Haven, his home, eleven miles distant. He was to remain an apprentice until twenty, and received in money the princely sum of forty dollars a year ‘with which to buy clothes and what was left he might use for spending money.’ Why he lived to found a great paper the reader can easily guess, when it is learned that Greeley used the greater part of said forty dollars each year for buying books….
The Spectator having collapsed, young Greeley, with his entire wardrobe done up in a handkerchief, once more visits Pennsylvania, but not to remain idle; he soon obtained a place in a printing office near his home, at eleven dollars per month, and later still he obtains employment at Erie where he receives fifteen dollars per month. Soon after this, not yet content, he is enroute for New York, where he arrived August 17, 1831….
[The Log Cabin] was started in the beginning of 1840, designed to be run six months and then discontinued. Into this undertaking Horace Greeley threw all his energy and ability, guided by his experience. In those days a journal with a circulation of ten thousand was a big concern. When an edition of nearly fifty thousand of its first issue was called for, the publishers were beside themselves, and later when the Log Cabin ran up a circulation of eighty and even ninety thousand, the proprietors were frantic as to how they should get them printed. It is needless to say that the Log Cabin outlived its original expectations. Ultimately the Log Cabin and the New Yorker were merged into the New York Tribune.
Further Investigation
Horace Greeley
Biography from Tulane University.
Activities
New Hampshire Map/Quiz Printout
At EnchantedLearning.com.
Vermont Map/Quiz Printout
At EnchantedLearning.com.
Interactive Map Maker {Free}
Make your own maps.
Interactive Writing Tool {Free!}
Horace Greeley used his newspaper to advocate various positions in politics and social reform. Use this “printing press” to create your own newspaper advocating your position on an issue.
Books
“Horace Greeley”
Complete chapter from Hidden Treasures, or, Why Some Succeed While Others Fail by H.A. Lewis.
Unit Studies & Lesson Plans
Go West, Young Man: A Unit Study
Our own unit on westward expansion takes a look at Horace Greeley’s famous quote…or was it?
Schooling
A lesson plan from Old Sturbridge Village that looks at the way children were educated in the early 19th century in New England using Horace Greeley as an example.
Printables & Notebooking Pages
United States Map
EduPlace.com map for locating New Hampshire and Vermont.
New Hampshire State Map
Map for locating Amherst.
Vermont State Map
Map for locating Poultney.
Horace Greeley Notebooking Pages
Simple pages for copywork, narrations, or wrapping up.
Enjoy the complete series:
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