Skip to main content

Secondary sourceDocument1888

Van Buren, Martin, entry in Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th edition

1888

An 1888 Encyclopaedia Britannica entry describing Martin Van Buren's early life, legal career, and political rise.

This Britannica entry provides a secondary overview of Van Buren's rise in politics for a general readership.

Ask Martin Van Buren about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Source: Wikisource

About this source

What it is

This is an entry on Martin Van Buren from the ninth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, published in 1888. It covers his background as a farmer's son, his legal training, and his early political career in New York.

Why it matters

The entry describes how Van Buren rose from humble origins to become a central figure in New York's Democratic party and later secretary of state under President Jackson. It shows how later 19th-century readers in Britain and America were taught to understand his career.

Look closer

  • How does the entry describe Van Buren's personal qualities that helped his rise?
  • What connection does it draw between Van Buren and Andrew Jackson?
  • Why might a British encyclopedia's view of an American president differ from an American one?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Martin Van Buren on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Martin Van Buren sources

Meet the AI Martin Van Buren →
Speech

Primary source

Inaugural Address of Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren · 4 March 1837

Black and white daguerreotype portrait of an elderly man with white hair, seated and facing slightly toward the viewer, wearing a dark coat, high white collar, and dark cravat. He has a faint smile. A dark border frames the image and handwritten caption text appears along the bottom.Photograph

Primary source

Daguerreotype Portrait of Martin Van Buren

Mathew Benjamin Brady · c. 1849–1850

Oil portrait of a bald older man with reddish-gray side hair and light eyes, wearing a dark high-collared coat and white collar, against a near-black background. He faces the viewer with a slight smile.Painting

Primary source

Martin Van Buren

Henry Inman · 1837

Front cover of a dark green cloth-bound book. A gold-stamped rectangular border frames the title reading 'The Autobiography of Martin Van Buren' with the line 'Edited by John C. Fitzpatrick' beneath it.Book

Primary source

The Autobiography of Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren · 1854–1862 (published 1920)

Brown cloth book cover with a Library of Congress call number label reading E 420 .F88 at top left, and a white Library of Congress barcode label reading 00005023312 with a red dot at lower left.Document

Secondary source

1848 Free Soil and Liberty National Conventions

1848

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Martin Van Buren now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions