Episodes Located: Washington City, District of Columbia in the 1850's

  1. Smilin' Schuyler Rails Against The Laws of Kansas
    date June 21, 1856map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Politics, Anti-slavery

    In 1850, the Midwest remained largely undeveloped and in the eyes of many New Englanders it seemed a very profitable proposition. By 1854, the territories were created by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which left these states with the ability to decide if the slave trade would be legal in their territories. Many Anti-Nebraskans, such as Indiana Representative Schuyler Colfax, remained dedicated to the...

  2. Edward Everett Extolls Civilizing Liberia
    date January 18, 1853map Washington City, District of Columbiatags African-Americans, Migration/Transportation, Slavery, Race-Relations

    At the thirty-sixth annual meeting of the American Colonization Society (ACS), the main concern for US Secretary of State Edward Everett was whether it was possible to maintain a civilization in Africa and whether or not the ACS was successful in attempting it. In his speech, Everett discussed the reasons for the ACS, such as stopping the slave trade, and discusses their inspirations which include...

  3. Jefferson Davis Named As Pierce's Secretary of War
    date March 4, 1853 to March 7, 1853map Washington City, District of Columbiatags War

    Jefferson Davis accepted his post as Franklin Pierce's Secretary of War. Born in Kentucky and living in Mississippi for much of his life, Jefferson Davis developed a strong conviction that the Constitution protected the practice of slavery and was an advocate of states' rights. As part of Pierce's administration, he encouraged and induced Pierce to favor the interests and views of southerners in...

  4. The Presidential Election
    date November 4, 1856map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Slavery

    During the summer before the Presidential Election of 1856 slavery was on the forefront of political discourse due to the increasingly violent battles in Kansas to determine whether the territory would be slave or free. The three candidates for President, Democrat James Buchanan, Republican John Fremont and the Whig/ American Millard Fillmore were thus reticent of the fact that they would need...

  5. Meeting of the American Colonization Society
    date January 18, 1853map Washington City, District of Columbiatags African-Americans, Race-Relations

    During its thirty-sixth annual meeting on January 18, 1853, the American Colonization Society delivered its annual report at the “Four and a-half street (Presbyterian) church.' The gathering was opened with prayers and it was announced that, “a general review of our operations the past year is calculated to produce the conviction that the Society is growing in usefulness with every passing...

  6. Republicans Run their First Presidential Candidate
    date November 4, 1856map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Slavery

    The Republican Party was formed as an anti-slavery party and in the presidential election of 1856, John Fremont became the party's first candidate for president. Ironically, Fremont was the only candidate in the presidential election from the South, yet he was also the only one who spoke out against slavery. Fremont campaigned to wipe out what he felt to be the two biggest sins plaguing the country:...

  7. Enactment of the 1850 Swamp Land Act
    date September 28, 1850map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Agriculture

    On September 28, 1850, Congress passed the Swamp Land Act of 1850. The Swamp Land Act of 1850 was the second piece of legislation passed in regards to the overflowing of Swamp Lands in the South. The first bill was passed on year earlier, in Mississippi. These Act ceded all unusable land due to swamps and flooding to be ceded to the State Governments. The states were then given the rights to sell...

  8. James Buchanan Addresses the Senate
    date September 12, 1856map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Slavery

    In September of 1856, during the race for the presidency, James Buchanan addressed the Senate on the subject of slavery. The issue of slavery was central to the Presidential Election of 1856. Buchanan, reticent of the fact that he needed to find middle ground on the topic in order to appeal to both pro-slavery southerners and abolitionist northerners, crafted his statements on slavery so as not...

  9. Albert Brown Defends the Homestead Bill
    date April 28, 1852map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Agriculture, Law, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations

    Before Congress ratified it, the Homestead Bill was a hotly contested piece of legislation. The Homestead Act eventually gave approximately 160 acres of undeveloped land in the west to any man of twenty one years, on the condition that he must build a house of 12 x 14 feet and live on the property for five years. This would not be a problem for people to fulfill who are coming looking for a life...

  10. The New Kansas Bill
    date July 10, 1856 to July 11, 1856map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Slavery

    In July of 1856 the Senate labored over the span of two days to come to an accord regarding the issue of slavery in Kansas. On the morning of the 11th, the Committee on Territories adopted the new Kansas bill, first introduced by Senator Toombs of Georgia. This new bill declared Kansas a slave state and was passed by a vote of thirty three to twelve. The bill only needed approval by the House...

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