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  1. Tariff of 1832 Passed
    date July 14, 1832map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Agriculture, Economy

    While President Andrew Jackson dealt with the Bank War, another economic debate engulfed Congress. They debated a new tariff. This act would be a close relation to the Tariff of 1828, which was benevolently called the Tariff of Abominations. The new bill was a protectionist tariff, attempting to protect local producers from foreign competitors by setting the tariff on imported goods, or using some...

  2. Indian Removal Act
    date May 28, 1830map WASHINGTON, Marylandtags Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations

    Passed on May 28, 1830, The Indian Removal Act allowed the U.S. federal government to negotiate treaties with American Indian tribes east of the Mississippi River to exchange their current lands for new territories west of the Mississippi in what is now Oklahoma. As the Richmond Enquirer notes on May 25, the Act technically did not require the Indians to relocate and that they were not “to be...

  3. Senate Debate on the Tariff and the Proper Role of the Federal Government
    date January 18, 1830 to January 27, 1830map WASHINGTON, Marylandtags Economy

    When Senator Samuel Foot of Connecticut introduced a bill to limit the sale of Western lands to reduce tensions with Native-Americans and to slow the spread of slavery, he probably knowingly set off a fury among Southern land speculators and agriculturalists. This, in combination with the Tariff of 1828 -- which many Southerners saw as a direct assault on their well being -- was seen as a violation...

  4. Decreasing Cotton Prices and McDuffie's Forty Bale Theory
    date April 6, 1830map SUMTER, South Carolinatags Agriculture, Economy

    The early 1800's were an interesting time in the Southern economy, as cotton prices both boomed and then began to dip. By 1830, prices had bottomed out in at 9 cents per pound, and Southerners searching for the cause narrowed in on Federal tariffs, specifically the Tariff of 1828. Newspapers such as the Charleston Mercury on August 3 argued that the tariff resulted in the “annihilation of commerce'...

  5. Maysville Road Act
    date May 22, 1830map MASON, Kentuckytags Economy, Migration/Transportation, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    One of the most controversial Acts of its time, the Maysville Road act authorizing the purchase of 50,000 worth of stock in the Maysville, Washington, Paris, and Lexington Turnpike Company, otherwise known as the National, or Cumberland, Road. To begin with, the road itself, or what was actually built of it, was a significant advance in construction technology. The four mile stretch that was constructed...

  6. A Desperate Plea to the Whigs of Virginia
    date October 6, 1836map AUGUSTA, Virginiatags Economy, Government, Politics, Slavery

    The nomination of a candidate for president proved to be a trying issue in Augusta County in 1836. The South was weakened by growing factionalism. It was divided between Southern Democrats in favor of Martin Van Buren and Southern Whigs in favor of William H. Harrison. An anonymous Whig within the vicinity of Augusta County published an earnest appeal in the Staunton Spectator to his fellow Whigs in...

  7. Our Indian Difficulties
    date May 19, 1828 to May 30, 1828map CHATHAM, Georgiatags African-Americans, Agriculture, Government, Law, Migration/Transportation, Native-Americans, Race-Relations, Slavery, Women

    People often want what they cannot have. At least, this was true in Georgia in 1828. On May 19, 1828 the Argus, a newspaper in Savannah, printed an extract of a letter from a member of Congress, to the Editor. In this letter the politician explained that the mood in Washington was changing in favor of removal of the Native Americans currently living where they had been for a long time on some of the...

  8. Charleston Women Discuss Support of States Rights
    date January 7, 1833map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags Economy, Government, Slavery, War, Women

    Women like Laura Margaret Cole Smith of South Carolina were not blind to the implications of politics for the Union as a whole. Upon receiving news of the 1832 Nullification Crisis, Laura wrote to her cousin Camille explaining her opinions on the state of the Union. Smith held steadfastly to her belief in South Carolina's states rights. Although the prospect of war saddened her because her father and...

  9. John C. Calhoun Resigns as Vice-President of the United States
    date December 28, 1832map RICHLAND, South Carolinatags Economy

    John C. Calhoun led an ambitious political life. He sat in James Monroe's Cabinet in the 1810s and 1820s. Then, in the hotly contested presidential election of 1824, Calhoun ran, but resigned himself to second place, where he neatly fit in as John Quincy Adams' vice president. In a time when political party affiliations were never stable, Calhoun aligned himself with Andrew Jackson half-way through...

  10. Reverends Discuss Death and Religion Before Politics
    date December 5, 1832map ABBEVILLE, South Carolinatags Church/Religious-Activity, Health/Death, Politics

    On December 5, 1832 Reverend James M. Chiles wrote a letter to fellow South Carolinian Reverend James C. Furman detailing the health of Chiles' family and the surge of religious revival in his area. Chiles began the letter with an apology that it had taken him so long to respond offering the explanation that he had been close to death and his youngest sister had died. Joy and sorrow flowed together...

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