Franklin Pierce: A Resource Guide

President Franklin Pierce, three-quarter length portrait, seated, facing right, with left hand inside vest. 1 photographic print. [between 1855 and 1865, printed later] Prints & Photographs Division. Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-13014

Related Resources

Exhibitions

American Treasures of the Library of Congress

This exhibition provides unique insight into various aspects of American history and culture. Objects displayed are organized according to the three categories that Thomas Jefferson used for his library: memory, reason, and imagination. The exhibition includes the following sections pertaining to Franklin Pierce's presidency:

• The Kansas and Nebraska Territories
• Arguments of the Chivalry

Manuscript Division

Manuscript Division Finding Aids Online

Finding aids for the Franklin Pierce Papers and the Pierce-Aiken Family Papers collections in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division.

Prints & Photographs Division

Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC)

Search PPOC using the subject heading Pierce, Franklin,--1804-1869 to find digital images related to Pierce such as prints, photographs, and political cartoons. Search all text fields in PPOC using the phrase Franklin Pierce to locate additional images.

A selection of highlights from PPOC includes:

• General Franklin Pierce during the Mexican War
• Franklin Pierce: Democratic candidate for fourteenth president of the United States
• The President's levee at the White House, Washington, D.C. [March 4, 1853]
  

November 23

Franklin Pierce, fourteenth president of the United States, was born on November 23, 1804, in Hillsboro, New Hampshire. Like his predecessor James K. Polk, Pierce was a little-known candidate retired from national politics when the Democratic Party summoned him to run for president.

December 30

James Gadsden, U.S. minister to Mexico, and General Antonio López de Santa Anna, president of Mexico, signed the Gadsden Purchase in Mexico City on December 30, 1853. The treaty settled the dispute over the exact location of the Mexican border west of El Paso, Texas, giving the U.S. claim to approximately 29,000 square miles of land in what is now southern New Mexico, for the price of $10 million.

Virtual Programs and Services

Digital Reference Section Web Guides

Primary Documents in American History

This site offers a list of some of the most important documents in American history from 1763 to 1877. Each document has a page with background information, links to digital material associated with the documents, and bibliographies for both adult and young readers. Documents related to Franklin Pierce's presidency include the Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854.