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  1. 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 to...

  2. Missouri Compromise
    date February 13, 1819 to March 6, 1820map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Slavery

    The Missouri Territory had requested admission to the US as a slave state as early as 1818. This otherwise routine petition became a complicated national debate over slavery. At the time, the nation held a balance of eleven slave and eleven free states, and although Missourians were undivided in their desire for unrestricted slavery, implementing such a system in a new state could cause bitter conflict....

  3. Thomas Hart Benton Begins Term as Congressman
    date March 4, 1853 to March 3, 1855map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Slavery

    A Southerner born in North Carolina, Thomas Hart Benton became an influential figure in Missouri and was in positions of political leadership for most of his life. He was the first United States Senator to serve five terms. In his political career, he was a strong advocate of westward expansion and was an architect of the movement that would become known as Manifest Destiny. Benton authored the first...

  4. Hatch Act of 1887
    date March 2, 1887map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Agriculture, Health/Death, Economy, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    During and after the Civil War, many farms and ranches were without the man power needed to cultivate the land. William Henry Hatch of Missouri joined forces with Norman J. Coleman to create legislation that would promote all aspects of agriculture. The Martinsburg Gazette reported that “President Grover Cleveland approved the famous Hatch Act on March, 2 1887,' which created agricultural experiment...

  5. Mexico Permits First Anglo Settlement in Spanish Texas
    date January 17, 1821tags Health/Death, Migration/Transportation, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    Moses Austin, originally a Connecticut merchant, migrated throughout the U.S. States and western territories developing the lead industry. After coming into economic ruin after settling in Missouri, he set his sights on economic expansion in Spanish Texas, and became the first man to obtain permission to bring Anglo-American settlers into the foreign territory. Permission was granted for the settlement...

  6. Mounted Infantry Bill
    date March 13, 1830tags Crime/Violence, Economy, Race-Relations, War

    On March 23, 1830, Senator Thomas Benton of Missouri introduced what he called the Mounted Infantry Bill, calling for ten companies of cavalry to be recruited and used to patrol the Santa Fe Trail. The Trail, which was an overland trade route between St. Louis, Missouri, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, was critical to the growing economy of Missouri. It had resulted in a tremendous amount of trade through...

  7. Missouri Convention
    date June 12, 1820 to July 19, 1820map ST LOUIS, Missouritags Slavery

    Southerners wasted no time after the completion of the Missouri Compromise to create a sound structure of government for the newest slave state. The 1820 Convention to establish guidelines for Missouri statehood consisted of 41 delegates, all but eight of whom were born in slave states or territories. The convention was organized with David Barton as president, William G. Pettus as secretary, and...

  8. Initial State Elections of Missouri
    date August 28, 1820map ST LOUIS, Missouritags Law

    Missouri's first state elections were scheduled to choose a governor, a lieutenant governor, Congressional representative, and membership of both houses of the General Assembly. Following the contemporary national pattern during the 1820s' “Era of Good Feelings,' Missouri did not have opposing political parties. Virtually all adult, white males were Republicans, but the most powerful faction...

  9. Issued For the Forcible Removal of Missouri's Mormon Population.
    date October, 1838map JEFFERSON, Missouritags Church/Religious-Activity, Crime/Violence, Migration/Transportation

    As a result of increasing tensions and violence between Missouri Mormons and other populations, Governor Lilburn W. Boggs issued a decree calling for their removal, and , if necessary , extermination. People charged the Mormons to be blasphemous, and suspected a Mormon plot to take over the country. When the state of Missouri failed to protect their settlements, Mormon leaders such as Sidney Rigdon...

  10. A Soldier's View of the Role of Women in the Civil War Effort
    date February 13, 1865map BENTON, Missouritags Crime/Violence, War, Women

    Charles James lived in Missouri but fought for the Confederate army in Virginia during the Civil War. In a letter to his sister on February 13, 1865, he discussed the problem the Confederate Army had with absentees and deserters at the beginning of 1865. In an attempt to coax these soldiers back into the army, James stated that General Lee [issued] a general order granting amnesty to all who will within...

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