Rise and Fall of the Slave South (Fall 2007)

University of Virginia
Tag cloud for these 10 episodes
African-Americans Agriculture Arts/Leisure Church/Religious-Activity Crime/Violence Economy Government Health/Death Law Migration/Transportation Politics Race-Relations Slavery Urban-Life/Boosterism War Women

Episodes

  1. Threat to the Union: Thomas Grimke on Nullification
    date December 1, 1832map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags Government, Law, Politics

    Angered by a set of tariffs passed by the Federal Government that protected the interests of northern merchants without benefitting the South at all, the South Carolina state convention met in Columbia on November 19, 1832 and adopted a statement declaring the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 "null and void" within South Carolina. Former state senator Thomas GrimkÉ felt this action was completely uncalled...

  2. Stolen Away: Slave Children
    date April 12, 1841map POWHATAN, Virginiatags African-Americans, Economy, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Slavery, Women

    Beverly Randolph of Powhatan, Virginia carefully planned her last will and testament to divide equally her assets amongst her children. In the late 1830s, Mrs. Randolph divided ownership of several plantations and a considerable number of slaves in her will. The bulk of her slaves went to her son Charles, but Beverly spent extra time dividing slave children to her other designated heirs,...

  3. A Fourth of July Celebration Gone Wrong
    date July 4, 1876 to July 16, 1876map EDGEFIELD, South Carolinatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Law, Race-Relations

    On July 15 and 16, 1876, the United States House of Representatives met in Washington, D.C. to debate the meaning and consequences of a racial disagreement and subsequent massacre that had taken place in the city of Hamburg, South Carolina on the fourth and fifth of July in that same year, the nation's centennial. A seat of racial tension, particularly because of an established African American...

  4. Keeping the Family Together
    date December 3, 1837map CAMPBELL, Virginiatags African-Americans, Race-Relations, Slavery

    "If you can't send all, pray be so good to send for me and my son Harrison," Matthew Watts wrote to his mistress Elizabeth Brown in December 1837. Owned by a wealthy family in Kentucky who sent him to Virginia for a brief period of time, Watts awaited the opportunity to return home with his son for over a year. During his time in Campbell County, he "lost" his wife and daughter as well...

  5. Staunton Citizens Make Excursion with Various Temperance Organizations
    date July 11, 1876map AUGUSTA, Virginiatags Arts/Leisure, Law, Urban-Life/Boosterism, Women

    In July 1876 the various temperance organizations of the city of Staunton, Virginia organized a day-long excursion by train involving between two and three hundred citizens, almost all of whom were organization members. The day was filled with an atmosphere of goodwill and entertainment. According to the local newspaper, The Spectator, upon arrival at the excursion's destination "[t]he day...

  6. A University of Virginia Student Responds to John Brown's Raid
    date November 3, 1859map ALBEMARLE, Virginiatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence

    E.M. Healy, a student at the University of Virginia in the years surrounding 1859, wrote a letter to his brother in Urbanna, Virginia on November 3. He was eager to explain to his family an event that had occurred a short distance from where he was in Albemarle County, Virginia. On the morning of October 16, 1959, John Brown, a radical abolitionist, and 17 white men and five African Americans...

  7. Agricultural Survival and Wealth
    date May 2, 1856map AUGUSTA, Virginiatags Agriculture, Economy, Politics

    On May 2, 1856 in western Virginia, Congressman John Letcher wrote a letter to his friend Alexander H.H. Stuart, who was also a politician. Letcher was born in Lexington, where he owned a law firm and began his political career. He later served as the governor of Virginia beginning in 1859. Stuart, on the other hand, was born in nearby Staunton where he was greatly involved with politics. Although...

  8. Freedmen and Union Soldiers
    date January 13, 1868map LOUISA, Virginiatags African-Americans, Law, Race-Relations

    Marcus Hopkins worked as a lawyer for the Bureau of Freedmen, Refugees, and Abandoned Lands (Freedmen's Bureau) after serving in the Union Army. His work with the Freedman's Bureau led him to buy a farm in Manassas, Virginia so he could be nearer to his offices in Louisa, Albemarle, and Orange Counties. He worked often to secure the individual rights of freedmen that many white southerners worked...

  9. North Carolina Quakers Fight Against Slavery
    date January 17, 1839map ROWAN, North Carolinatags African-Americans, Church/Religious-Activity, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Slavery

    The Society of Friends, otherwise known as the Quakers, of North Carolina submitted a petition to the United States Senate concerning their position on slavery. The Quakers completed this petition during their annual meeting in November of 1838. The petition stated, "we entreat you to legislate for the termination of slavery in this state." Nathan Mendenhall signed the petition, and Senator J. T....

  10. Testimony on the Impressment of a Slave
    date January 12, 1864map NEW KENT, Virginiatags African-Americans, Health/Death, Slavery, War

    On January 12, 1864, A.K. Tribble offered a testimony in a New Kent County courthouse concerning the death of a slave, Ephraim. After Tribble's sworn statements, the County Clerk affirmed the verity of his account, but added that he could not set the official seal of his office because the Union Army had stolen it. James B. Floyd of Newberry District, South Carolina owned Ephraim and, in September...

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Next »